Stronger Oncology Value Stories Start with Patient Research

Market access used to be all clinical endpoints and economic models. But with oncology pipelines accelerating, health systems facing rising costs and unequal uptake, payers are asking harder questions…

Will this deliver value in the real world, for the patients who will receive it?

Since Joint Clinical Assessments for oncology began on 12 January 2025, national pricing and reimbursement decisions have put greater focus on real-world applicability.¹ At the same time, OECD analyses have highlighted an access disconnect: approvals are rising but clinical uptake and equitable access lag behind, weakening the real-world value of new medicines.²

In this environment, patient research is not a ‘nice to have’, it’s pivotal to the value story.

Evidence from the literature: a buzzback proof-point in mCRPC

That shift is already reflected in the literature. A recently published, Johnson & Johnson and buzzback co-authored study in Future Oncology demonstrates how patient and caregiver research strengthens oncology value narratives in practice.⁵

Using buzzback’s blended qualitative and quantitative approach across seven markets, the study explored the lived experience of patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and their caregivers, with a particular focus on attitudes to genetic testing and real-world pathway completion.

The findings illustrate why patient research is no longer optional for market access: they show whether value assumptions are likely to hold once therapies leave the controlled conditions of clinical trials.

Why patient research has become a market access priority

Clinical trials rarely answer these completely. Controlled conditions can’t explain everything that happens in the emotional, resource-constrained reality before and after treatment starts.

Primary patient-caregiver research fills that gap quickly and cost-effectively. It does three things that matter directly to payers:

⇒ Surfaces lived burden beyond symptoms in payer-relevant terms
From mental health and physical, cognitive and social function to work/financial impact and caregiver time.
⇒ Reveals where real-world barriers dilute value
Pain points that cause under-diagnosis, delayed initiation, or drop-off – each of which can erode cost-effectiveness.
⇒ Explains real-world performance
Why pathways succeed or fail, where uptake differs by market or segment, and what support is required to realise reimbursed value.

Precision oncology makes this even more urgent

Precision therapies are expanding rapidly, but their impact begins before prescribing. Diagnostics are now a gatekeeper for reimbursement in multiple cancers, including prostate cancer.

ASCO’s 2025 guidance for metastatic prostate cancer recommends both germline and somatic testing at the earliest opportunity because access to targeted options, like PARP inhibitors depends on demonstrating BRCA/HRR status;³ and NICE reimbursement decisions are tied to biomarker-positive populations.⁴

So, for market access teams, the burning question is…

“Can we ensure testing is completed consistently enough to protect the therapy’s real-world value?”

Across Europe, access to targeted therapies is strongest where diagnostic funding and infrastructure are aligned, and weakest where testing is fragmented or under-resourced.²

What the mCRPC study shows in practice

Building on the buzzback-led Future Oncology publication, three findings are especially pertinent to market access:⁵

→ Testing is not just a clinical step, it’s an emotional motivator: Patients saw genetic testing as a pathway to hope and new options, which helps explain why they are willing to test even in late-stage disease.
→ Motivation doesn’t equal completion: Many patients still reported needing more information and emotional support before they felt ready to proceed. An implementation pain point with direct consequences for uptake.
→ Uptake will vary if pathways aren’t designed for real life: Differences by country and socioeconomic context show where testing and treatment risk uneven access and low use.

These insights show whether the pathway is likely to function as outlined in the value dossier.

Read the full Future Oncology publication here: https://doi.org/10.1080/14796694.2025.2510890

How market access teams can use patient research like this

Primary patient market research supports market access strategy in three concrete ways:

⇒ Protect the cost-effectiveness case

If testing rates are lower than assumed, the eligible population shrinks and real-world outcomes can diverge from trials.

Patient market research allows teams to:

♦ model realistic uptake and timing
♦ stress-test ICERs against pathway pain points
♦ pre-empt payer concerns around feasibility

⇒ Strengthen HTA values narratives

HTA bodies increasingly want to see evidence that value will be realised in practice.

Patient-grounded insights help justify:¹

♦ early testing positioning
♦ companion diagnostic funding
♦ access positioning that’s equitable

⇒ Support Services that Unlock Value

When patient evidence shows clear barriers (information gaps, emotional readiness), it provides a payer-relevant rationale to fund services alongside the medicine, so support programs become key to delivering real-world value.

The broader takeaway

Market access value stories land best when they reflect what payers are ultimately funding: outcomes that hold up in practice.

To get there, clinical and health economic evidence needs to be complemented by cross-market patient and caregiver market research that shows how value is realised day-to-day.

Because when you understand what patients and caregivers actually experience, you protect the real-world value your story is built on.

Acronyms:

ASCO: American Society of Clinical Oncology
BRCA: Breast Cancer gene (BRCA1/BRCA2) mutations
HRR: Homologous Recombination Repair
HTA: Health Technology Assessment
ICER: Incremental Cost-Effectiveness Ratio
mCRPC: Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer
NICE: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
PARP: Poly(ADP-ribose) Polymerase

Sources:

⋅ European Commission. Joint Clinical Assessments under the EU HTA Regulation – implementation from 12 Jan 2025, starting with oncology medicines. 2025.
⋅ Access to oncology medicines in EU and OECD countries. OECD Publishing. 2024–2025.
⋅ Germline and somatic genomic testing for metastatic prostate cancer: ASCO guideline. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2025. doi:10.1200/OP-25-00186.
⋅ NICE / NHS (UK). PARP inhibitors approved for BRCA-mutation positive mCRPC; reimbursement linked to biomarker status. 2024–2025.

⋅ Jain R, Seebold R, Weiser J, et al. Patient, caregiver experiences in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer: insights from a multi-national survey. Future Oncology. 2025. doi:10.1080/14796694.2025.2510890.