OBJECTIVES: A review of the literature was conducted to determine whether there is an appropriate definition for market access. The original perception was that it relates to securing market authorisation, as well as enabling prescribing of the product. A working definition for pharmaceutical market access was proposed as “a process of enabling patient access to pharmaceutical products, not only through gaining regulatory approval, but also through gaining an acceptable optimal price and reimbursement status to manufacturers and payers.” The objective of this survey was to determine how appropriate the proposed definition is by comparing it to definitions proposed by differing professionals within the healthcare industry. METHODS: A review of the literature was undertaken, followed by the development of a questionnaire aimed at eliciting the various determinants of pharmaceutical market access, both from the patient and payer perspectives. This survey was administered to professionals in three settings involving ISPOR European Congress, EMAUD educational course, and a pharmaceutical company, with forty eight, forty five, and seventeen respondents, respectively. The respondents were categorised as belonging to: academia, pharmaceutical industry, healthcare profession, policy maker/Health Technology Assessment Agency (payer), and consultancy. Responses were recorded verbatim, and then coded by the interviewers to aid analysis. RESULTS: The survey suggested there is an inadequate understanding of market access, and this is independent of the professional background of the respondent. Furthermore, there is not a consistent agreement as to what factors influence the successful development and commercialisation of pharmaceutical products. CONCLUSIONS: Successful market access of pharmaceutical products requires a wider understanding of the role of patients and payers in the development and commercialisation by all stakeholders in the healthcare delivery system. Further research is needed into this field as it has important health policy implications for patient care.