pharma.be, located in Brussels, is the voice of the innovative Belgian – human and veterinary medicine – pharmaceutical industry. As interest group it represents 130 small and large innovative pharmaceutical and biotech companies and is the centre of excellence for the industry. Our members are a major contributor to the Belgian economy. They supply 80 percent of all medicines used in Belgium and have more than 42.000 employees. As an interlocutor, pharma.be is closely involved with the societal and public challenges in health care.
One of the major challenges for our sector is to make new innovative medicines available to the Belgian population. Therefore, we are looking for an enthusiastic full-time colleague to reinforce our Market Access Services team.
The Market Access Advisor will join a highly specialized Market Access Services team. This team reports to the Market Access Services director.
The team’s main responsibility is the follow-up of the individual price and reimbursement requests that pharma.be’s member companies submit to the Pricing Committee at the FPS Economy and to the Committee for Reimbursement of Medicines (CRM) at the National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (NIDHI).
This includes:
– participating in the Pricing Committee, the CRM, or the working group managed-entry agreements to support the interests of individual member companies as well as those of the innovative pharmaceutical industry as a whole.
– providing customized technical and strategic advice to member companies on market access options and requirements for their price and reimbursement file, before submission and during the entire price and reimbursement procedure, including the negotiations on managed-entry agreements;
– analysing member companies’ price and reimbursement files regarding content, argumentation and consistency. For each individual CRM file, the results of the clinical studies, the relative effectiveness, and the health economic and budgetary impact are taken into account;
The Market Access Services team informs members on the latest issues regarding market access developments, gives guidance via newsletters, extranet and info sessions etc…; and offers educational courses on access through various pharmacademies.
By collecting and analysing access statistics, the market access services team also evaluates constantly access level and speed in Belgium versus other European countries. These statistics, as well as a close follow-up of the access procedures in other EU countries to identify best practices, can then be used by the policy team to develop policy proposals improving access to innovative medicines in Belgium.
In the context of the reform of the reimbursement regulation, the creation of a real-world data platform is anticipated, to evaluate, for the most innovative drugs, which real world evidences can document the drug value in the real practice, and how to collect these data. The Market Access Services team will also support member companies in those discussions.
Finally, the market access services team also collaborates closely with the economic team in estimating the drug budget and discussing those projections with experts at NIDHI.
Primary responsibilities of the Market Access Advisor function
The new Market Access Advisor will support the current market access advisors in the follow-up of member companies’ reimbursement files and the analysis of access in Belgium.
In particular, he/she will help the team:
o answer to company questions on reimbursement procedures and create a database with standard questions/answers;
o collect the Belgian data for the EFPIA WAIT indicator, share the results with our members and represent pharma.be in the EFPIA WAIT indicator working group;
o register the reimbursement data in the pharma.be database and extract statistics useful in the policy discussion with authorities (ongoing analysis on which statistics are key to track access level and speed in Belgium versus other EU countries);
o conduct in-depth analysis of reimbursement files regarding content, argumentation, and consistency (for each individual CRM file, the results of the clinical studies, the relative effectiveness, and the health economic and budgetary impact are considered); based on this analysis, provide customized advice to the concerned member company regarding its reimbursement file, over the course of the CRM procedure;
o compare the Belgian price and reimbursement systems with systems abroad;
o educate company members through training sessions on reimbursement.
On the job training and coaching will be provided to develop specific skills. Participation in the CRM meeting as observatory will be asked to NIDHI when one of the 4 pharma.be representatives cannot attend. The new Market Access advisor will also be invited to participate to pharma.be working groups where access policy proposals are discussed and/or developed and will have the opportunity to work cross-functionally with economic, policy, communication, public health and legal pharma.be advisors.
Skills required for the role of Market Access Advisor
Intellectual and business acumen
– Master’s degree in life sciences or health economics
– At least 3 years of experience working in the health care sector, including a minimum of 2-year experience in a pricing and reimbursement or health economics in Belgium
– Microsoft skills
Personal
– A team player who enjoys collaborating with others to leverage internal expertise and achieve mutual objectives
– Service-oriented towards member companies by paying attention to their needs and providing customized assistance
– Analytical and strategic skills, with a positive solution-oriented approach based on a systematic analysis of dossiers
– Highly organized, able to manage multiple files and tasks in parallel
– Precise in data management
– Communication skills, able to summarize complex concepts in a few words
– Professional proficiency of French, Dutch and English
– Highest personal values and ethical standards, being discreet and able to guard confidentiality
pharma.be offers a dynamic working environment where communication, teamwork and quality are crucial. You will be offered personal development opportunities and a competitive remuneration package.
Want to take this challenge?
Send your resume to roxane@nuwhi.be or to liske@nuwhi.be and tell us a little more about yourself. You will hear from us soon!
