Pharmaceutical Market Europe • June 2026 • 19
THOUGHT LEADER
The outcomes economy:
where next for pharma?
‘In the emerging framework, a medicine’s value will increasingly depend on how effectively care is delivered around it’
By Sabina Syed
Attending the ISPOR (the professional society for outcomes research) conference in May continues to remind us that many global challenges persist that no single health system, pharma company, country or continent can tackle alone. In some cases, discussions felt very much like the film Groundhog Day to someone who has been in market access and affordability for almost 20 years. One session debated if the US is leading or following Europe on how they are tackling value and affordability? Shouldn’t the question be what can we learn from one another to better improve health outcomes, including affordability?
Hot topics centred around Most Favoured Nation (MFN) pricing and equitable access, China’s investment in developing innovative medicines, payer questioning outcomes and if medicines are affordable, pharma launch sequencing amid global inequities and, of course, AI.
It is undeniable that a new value framework needs to accelerate and be re-defined in an environment where uncertainty persists. One underrepresented topic was how rapidly evolving healthcare digitisation could reshape outcomes evaluation for patients, payers and pharma.
For decades, pharma has largely operated within a familiar framework: develop innovative medicines; demonstrate safety and efficacy through clinical trials; negotiate pricing and reimbursement, and bring therapies to market.
Today, healthcare systems across the world are changing the way they deliver care to patients using digital technology and, in some markets, at speed.
Pharma is potentially entering a fundamentally different future – one in which medicines are no longer viewed as standalone products, but as components of broader healthcare delivery ecosystems powered by digital technology, real-world data and continuous outcomes measurement. In the future, value in healthcare may no longer be measured molecule by molecule – but rather outcome by outcome.
Historically, value frameworks concentrated primarily on clinical efficacy, safety and acquisition cost. But healthcare digitisation is changing what can be measured – and therefore what payers will ultimately value.
Today, healthcare systems increasingly capture and value:
As digital healthcare delivery infrastructure matures, payers are likely to demand evidence not only that a medicine works, but that the entire care pathway surrounding the medicine improves outcomes efficiently and sustainably.
This creates an important evolution in thinking: a future value equation may be built on four interconnected pillars: drug outcomes; price; affordability and healthcare delivery.
In this emerging framework, a medicine’s value will increasingly depend on how effectively care is delivered around it. While this may not be new, what is different is that payers/healthcare systems will start to put increasing value on it.
Traditional pricing frameworks were largely built for episodic treatment models.
Future therapies may require continuous data collection, integrated digital patient support, consideration to a digitally enabled healthcare delivery pathway and outcomes-based reimbursement models. In many ways, healthcare delivery is becoming part of the product.
This represents both a challenge and an opportunity for pharma (eg, RCT vs a real-world evidence decision-making environment). Organisations that continue to focus narrowly on drug efficacy and price may struggle to differentiate in future payer negotiations. By contrast, companies that design therapies alongside digitally enabled care models may be better positioned to demonstrate holistic value.
Ultimately, the industry may need to move beyond the traditional debate of ‘high price vs price control’ toward a more sophisticated value framework grounded in measurable patient outcomes and system-wide impact.
The question for me is not simply: “What does the medicine cost?” It is: “What long-term value does the medicine and its delivery ecosystem create for patients, healthcare systems and society?”
As healthcare becomes increasingly digitised, pharma has an opportunity to help shape this new framework. Those that succeed will likely be the companies that can integrate innovation, affordability, data and healthcare delivery into a single, outcomes-focused model.
So where to next? Uncertainty, risks and opportunities are the constant with pressures on drug pricing and affordability being the norm. Be curious about healthcare delivery and ask:
• In a digital era – how could patients receive their treatment, in what care setting, by whom and how could they be monitored in a digitised health system?
• What new skills do we need to develop?
o Partnership working
o Pathway redesign
o Designing trials and real-world studies to encompass digital healthcare delivery, patient cultures, attitudes and beliefs, and digital literacy
o Early engagement with payers and healthcare systems.
• Lastly, think of healthcare value as a Rubik’s Cube – four interconnected colours representing drug outcomes, price, affordability and healthcare delivery. Within each sit multiple dimensions that must align to create meaningful value for patients, payers and society.
Sabina Syed is Managing Director of Visions4Health, www.visions4health.com
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