Perspectives by the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics

Ron Lanton, the Founder and President of Lanton Strategies International, joins Perspectives by the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics to discuss the use of trade mechanisms to address pharmaceutical pricing. Ron provides insight into the growing intersection of pharmaceutical pricing and international trade policy, why recent developments could be significant, and what it could mean for biophar...

Dr. Tomas Philipson, former Acting Chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers and Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago, joins Perspectives by the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics to discuss a new insurance model he developed that insures biotech investments against clinical trial failure. He explains how this insurance could reshape the way risk is managed in life scie...

In this episode of Perspectives by the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, host Mel Whittington sits down with renowned health economist Dr. Peter Neumann following the annual meeting of the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health (CEVR) at Tufts Medical Center. Drawing from conversations that took place at the meeting, Mel and Peter explore some of the questions that are shaping h...

In this episode of Perspectives by the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, Melanie Whittington breaks down a fundamental—and increasingly consequential—question in health economics: what counts as value in cost-effectiveness analysis? For biotech leaders and investors, Mel cautions that this isn’t just an academic debate. The frameworks adopted by HTA bodies influence pricing, access, and ultima...

Melanie Whittington, PhD, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, talks with Peter Kolchinsky, PhD, Founder and Managing Partner of RA Capital Management, to discuss if the U.S. market-based approach to pricing novel prescription medicines could result in paying more than they are worth and if companies and company builders should use health economic modeling to support their value propo...

Melanie Whittington, PhD, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, interviews James Chambers, PhD, MPharm, Professor of Medicine in the Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health at Tufts Medical Center, to dig into specialty drug coverage and what it might look like in 2026.

Melanie Whittington, PhD, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, talks with John M. O'Brien, PharmD, MPH, President and CEO of the National Pharmaceutical Council & Former Trump Drug Pricing Advisor, to tackle some big questions like if it is possible to reward innovation without busting budgets and how to get to a sustainable, innovation-friendly, patient-centered drug pricing syst...

Melanie Whittington, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, talks with Vivek Subbiah, MD, David Hong, MD, and Steve Potts, PhD, MBA to discuss if pan-tumor approval strategies offer a path forward for broader, faster adoption across larger patient populations. Given the slow adoption curves typical of new therapeutics and the potential for government price negotiation as early as nine y...

Diane Vieira, Head of Marketing & Communications at Leerink Partners, interviews Melanie Whittington, PhD, Head of the Leerink Center of Pharmacoeconomics (CPE), to discuss the one-year anniversary of CPE and everything they thought they knew but actually didn’t.

Melanie Whittington, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, interviews Steve Potts, PhD, MBA, CEO and Co-Founder, Stealth Cancer Biotech, to discuss the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on cancer drug development and a middle ground between a market-based approach and a government-based approach to drug pricing.

Melanie Whittington, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, interviews Joshua Kresh and Emily Michiko Morris from The IP Policy Institute at the University of Akron School of Law to discuss the critical importance of protecting intellectual property for the biopharmaceutical innovation ecosystem and their recent research around evergreening and patent thickets.

Melanie Whittington, PhD, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, interviews Ulrich Neumann, MBA, MSc, MA, Director of Access and Policy Research at Johnson & Johnson, to discuss the motivation behind the recent launch of the J&J Center for U.S. Healthcare Policy Research, the interconnectedness and importance of the various players within the biopharmaceutical R&D ecosystem,...

Melanie Whittington, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, talks with Gunnar Esiason, Head of Patient Engagement and Patient-Centered Innovation at Raven, RA Capital's healthcare incubator, where they discuss the far-reaching impact of biopharmaceutical innovation, as well as the time, effort, and capital that goes into developing new treatments.

Melanie Whittington, PhD, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, interviews Joey Mattingly, PharmD, MBA, PhD, Vice Chair of Research and Associate Professor at the University of Utah, to learn about the history of the pharmaceutical supply chain and the origins of some of its components.

Melanie Whittington, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, interviews Jon Campbell, Chief Science Officer of the National Pharmaceutical Council, to discuss what makes biopharmaceutical innovation special and why judging and interpreting their prices is nuanced and requires context.

Melanie Whittington, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics interviews Elizabeth Franklin, PhD, MSW, Head of U.S. Public Affairs and Patient Advocacy, Oncology with Sanofi where they discuss what it means to be a patient advocate, how innovators and investors can partner with patients, and patients' contributions to drug development and market access.

Melanie Whittington, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics interviews Kirsten Axelsen, Senior Policy Advisor at DLA Piper & Non-Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute where they discuss drug prices, their opportunity costs, and the effect today’s prices have on future drug developments.

Melanie Whittington, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics interviews Frank S. David, MD, PhD, Managing Director of Pharmagellan and Professor of the Practice at Tufts University. The healthcare investing and development world and the pharmacoeconomics world have historically operated separately despite drug pricing being core to both worlds. In this episode, Mel and Frank contrast how...

Melanie Whittington, PhD, Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics interviews Brian Reid, Author of the Cost Curve & the Principal and Founder of Reid Strategic. In this episode they discuss Brian's background in the health journalism space, Generalized Cost Effectiveness Analysis (GCEA), and how the industry can better communicate the impact of healthcare innovation.

In our signature podcast series, Dr. Mel Whittington, a health economist and Head of the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, talks with people from across the industry to hear their stories and to better understand the societal impact of healthcare innovations. If you’re interested in participating in future podcasts or would like to learn more about the Leerink Center for Pharmacoeconomics, ple...