Outsourcing Opportunities on the Value, Evidence and Access Marketplace

Scientist.com, the parent company of HealthEconomics.Com, recently announced the newly rebranded Value, Evidence and Access Marketplace – an online solution that accelerates the sourcing and procurement process for researchers and suppliers of HEOR, RWE and Market Access services. With more than 350+ signed suppliers of value, evidence and access — some offering discounts on services as part of the Scientist.com Supplier VIP program — the expanded category now fully supports the industry in these critical areas, as well as epidemiology and economic modeling, value evidence communications, pricing and reimbursement, data access and analytics and more.

A proven solution:

Scientist.com provides both private and public marketplaces for 25 of the top 30 pharma companies, 80+ biotechs and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Value, Evidence and Access is the second fastest growing marketplace category at Scientist.com, driven by the high demand for researchers to connect with top-quality suppliers to deliver faster science and accelerated market access.

To delve into how the Value, Evidence and Access Marketplace can be used by research manufacturers and solution providers, Dr. Patti Peeples, President of HealthEconomics.Com, interviewed Scientist.com Category Director Maria Negron and Business Development Senior Director David Brown.

Patti: What are the benefits of using the Value, Evidence and Access Marketplace for buyers of research services and solution providers?

Maria: Biopharma researchers experience time savings ranging from 30 to 120 days when using the Marketplace because of pre-established legal agreements with suppliers, allowing them to initiate work immediately. Cost savings from 10% to as much as 50% have been realized due to the multiple bid process, as solution providers recognize the need to be competitive. Buyers also recognize benefits in terms of consolidated billing systems, simplifying project management.

10% – 50% cost savings and 30 – 120-day time savings may be realized by research manufacturers when using the Scientist.com Value, Evidence and Access Marketplace

Suppliers also benefit from a pre-established legal agreement, vastly opening up their ability to work with many more companies more quickly, thereby negating the need for an individual direct agreement with each client. Suppliers can also use the Marketplace to expand their business development reach by gaining exposure to many new organizations as well as supporting existing clients by providing them access to platform features such as our Supply Chain Finance solution, SciPay®.

Patti: What types of projects and service areas are sourced through the Value, Evidence and Access Marketplace, and how many suppliers are currently available to respond to requests?

Maria: We offer nearly 100 different services within the Value, Evidence and Access Marketplace, spanning early-stage evaluation to commercialization. We currently have over 350 contracted suppliers listed on the Marketplace and are adding more every week. You will find most of the major HEOR, RWE and Market Access solution providers are listed on the Marketplace, and are ready to work with you immediately.

Service offerings include all areas of HEOR, RWE & Market Access, such as:
* Real World Data Sourcing
* RWE Observational Studies
* HEOR Studies
* Market Access Strategies
* Patient-Reported Outcome Research
* Data Analytics
* Pricing, Reimbursement & Contracting Services
* Clinical Trials
* Value Communication and Payer Strategy
* Competitive Intelligence
* Country Specific Strategies

Patti: How does a buyer or supplier sign up to use the Value, Evidence and Access Marketplace?

Maria: The typical process includes two simple steps, both of which are designed to cut down on “red tape.” The first is agreeing to the Scientist.com marketplace terms and our services agreement. This will involve internal stakeholders in Legal and/or the General Counsel. The second step is to liaise with internal Procurement professionals in your organization, so they are aware of the Scientist.com platform. Suppliers will also complete a supplier profile. We have a team to support you with each of these steps.

To sign up as a buyer or supplier, click here.

Patti: If a buyer has an existing Master Services Agreement (MSA) with a supplier, how is the Marketplace used?

Maria: Our agreements are set up in a way that any MSA that our buyer has with a supplier supersedes our service agreements. As a buyer or a supplier, if you already have an existing MSA with a partner, then you can use those terms, and still work through the Marketplace. For those companies that you don’t have an existing MSA with, you can work with them right away using the standard service agreement of the Marketplace itself. More importantly, for any project, the legal terms can be customized.

Patti: Many times, a pharma researcher has not completely scoped a project or defined the methodology. They may be assessing feasibility, for example, by determining whether there is a sufficient patient volume to conduct the research. Can the Marketplace be used in this way?

Maria: Absolutely, a user can actually place a request as early or as advanced in the project cycle as they wish. So that means that as a buyer, you can initiate a request with a very comprehensive and complete proposal, or you can also initiate a request that is for information purposes to better understand the capabilities within the market. We recommend, of course, starting the request process as soon as possible, enabling the buyer to understand the supplier capabilities or potentially learn about new technologies applications. The Marketplace provides benefits at every stage of the research project process.

Patti: Can you describe how the billing process works through the Marketplace?

David Brown discusses consolidated billing, early pay options and more.

Patti: What evidence do you have that this Marketplace is changing the nature of Value, Evidence and Access sourcing and procurement and driving faster science?

Maria: A pharma company recently sought to conduct a systematic literature review and feasibility assessment in heart failure. This complex request was sent out to five suppliers, and the first proposal was received in seven days. There was almost a 2x difference in the cost estimates, with bids ranging from a low of $85,000 to a high of $163,000. A final supplier was chosen, and the pharma company realized a $20,000 cost savings through our Marketplace bidding process.

Patti: If a biopharma company or solution provider wants to sign up on the Value, Evidence and Access Marketplace, what should they do?

Maria: To register as a buyer or seller on the Value, Evidence and Access Marketplace, visit https://www.scientist.com/partners-healtheconomics/. We also offer numerous supplier business development solutions to help them stand out to potential buyers – leveraging both the Scientist.com and HealthEconomics.Com audiences.

Please reach out to Undine McEvoy, Associate Director of Marketing, at undine@healtheconomics.com, for additional information on these opportunities.