The Role of Market Access Professionals in Pharmaceutical Industry: Document Analysis

OBJECTIVES: The skills and activities required for the Market Access (MA) professionals is currently not standardised and there is gap in the literature about the activities carried out by these professionals in their day-to-day activities. A document analysis was carried to explore MA professional’s role within pharmaceutical industry including the skills, knowledge and other attributes required for MA job. To the point of data collection there were no published literature that explains the skills required for MA role and the day-to-day activities while they are in their roles.

METHODS: Published MA job advertisements constituted the sample for this study. Job adverts from selected pharmaceutical companies were retrieved from pharmaceutical companies, National Health Service (NHS) websites and Google was carried out, between February to August 2019, and updated 1st – 31st August 2023. Job roles were compiled and categorised under the following headings; entry level role, senior level role, pricing and reimbursement role and head and director’s role.

RESULTS: MA jobs advertised during this period were compiled. A total of 80 MA jobs advertised on pharmaceutical websites were compiled. Three main themes were identified across the dataset were: role advertised; skills and activities and rewards. Study showed the different roles and activities carried out by MA professionals is heterogeneous. There are more opportunities to get into the entry level role compared with the other categories. Having the ability to interpret and understand different healthcare system was common to all the categories of jobs identified. Lastly, MA professionals must show the ability to collaborate for the interest of their organisational goals.

CONCLUSIONS: MA professional must demonstrate the ability to collaborate and be able to demonstrate an understanding of the different healthcare systems in their day-to-day activities. Healthcare provider and policy makers are to be aware of these findings in their decision-making process.