OBJECTIVES : Randomized controlled trials may not provide enough information to resolve payer uncertainty around the benefit of an intervention in clinical practice and therefore the requirement for real-world evidence (RWE) to support healthcare decision making is growing. The objective of this survey was to understand pharmaceutical industry professionals’ views on the importance of and current use of RWE within their organisation.

METHODS : An electronic web-based survey was conducted at the 20th Annual European Congress of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) in November 2017. Industry professionals visiting the exhibit stand of the author organisation, a specialist RWE consultancy, were invited to complete a descriptive survey. A charity donation was offered for each completion. Data were anonymised, aggregated and reported following the conference.

RESULTS : Twenty-three participants completed the survey with most (70%) employed by large or medium sized pharmaceutical companies. Almost two-thirds (61%) commissioned multi-country rather than single-country RWE studies to meet their evidence requirements. The most commonly reported markets requiring RWE studies included Europe (70%), America (30%) and the Nordic countries (22%). Participants reported the most important areas for using RWE to support brand value messages as: ‘the identification of unmet need’ (78%), ‘patient reported quality of life data’ (78%) and the ‘impact on healthcare resource utilisation’ (78%). Almost two thirds (65%) of participants stated that the use of RWE has changed the reimbursement of one or more of their brands.

CONCLUSIONS : The results of this exploratory survey suggest that industry professionals recognise RWE as important in supporting brand value messages and report a direct positive impact of RWE on product reimbursement status. RWE should be considered as a key component of a product’s value proposition.