Reflections from the 9th Annual Pharma PRMA Conference

Having recently participated in the Virtue Insights Pharma PRMA conference attended by market access, reimbursement and pricing professionals, I wanted to share some reflections from this incredible conference where I had the opportunity to participate and present – representing AccessSync, a Gold Partner.  

The Atmosphere & Energy 

Walking into the Virtue Insight-organized event in Philadelphia, I sensed a real drive — a mixture of urgency and optimism. On one hand, delegates were laser-focused: new regulatory realities, pricing pressures, access hurdles. On the other hand, there was genuine collaboration in the air: people sharing real-life stories and struggles, peer-to-peer strategy, the “how we’re doing this right now” tone rather than just “what might happen”.  

The room felt alive. 

As a speaker, it was energizing to engage with an audience who came ready not just to listen but to challenge, ask, dig deeper – topics like Access Realization and the MFN really resonated with the audience. As an attendee, I appreciated the balance of high-level perspectives and tangible, actionable sessions. 

Great Attendees – Diverse & Engaged 

One of the strongest take-aways was the caliber and variety of attendees, which helped drive the various perspectives from Market Access strategists, small to large Pharma organizations, various payer experts, and more.

There was also a strong presence of real-world evidence (RWE) and technology disruptors, which is notable given how often pricing/access events lean heavily clinical or commercial. 

 Active networking: the evening networking events, one-on-one meetings, and spontaneous discussions at the AccessSync table felt meaningful — not just “meet and greet” but “how could we meet the patients, providers, and payers where they are?” — conversations to ensure patients have access to the products they need. 

Three Key Themes that Resonated 

1. Value-Based & Innovative Contracting: The dedicated workshop on value-based agreements and innovative contracting was timely. Executives and payer-side experts alike emphasized that they’ve heard the buzzwords (risk-share, outcomes-based) for years; now the questions are, “how do you operationalize them, scale them, make data infrastructure real”? As a market access professional, this hits home — the value proposition is no longer just, “we have a great drug” but, “we have a deal, a pathway to access, shared risk, measurable outcomes”. 
2. Technology, Digital Health & Access: Another strong thread: how digital health, AI, real-time data and the broader tech ecosystem are reshaping access and reimbursement. Sessions explored how digital therapeutics integrate into reimbursement frameworks, how AI can anticipate payer behavior, and how data modeling becomes part of pricing strategy. It’s clear that market access teams must become fluent not just in Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR) and pricing — but in the capabilities of digital tools, data partnerships, and tech-enabled contracting mechanisms. 
3. Global & Multi-Stakeholder Access Strategy: The agenda spent significant time on global pricing and access strategies, market developments, patient and provider voice, and collaboration across industry-payer-patient boundaries. Especially as the landscape and ripple effect of the MFN is being realized.  

My Takeaways & What I’m Bringing Back 

• Actionable Insight: Many sessions ended with practical takeaways — not just theory, but, “here’s how you build the infrastructure”, “here’s how you structure the contract”, “here’s how you engage payers early”. 
• Network That Matters: I made connections with payer-operational folks, tech data vendors, and fellow access strategists who I will follow up with long after the event. 
• Mindset Shift: For me personally, the event reinforced that access is no longer a downstream checkbox. It needs to be embedded early: during development, evidence generation, pricing strategy, payer engagement — and even product design. 

Want to learn more?

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