Unlocking business and commercial value with patient-reported data
Pharmaceutical research has long been driven by insights from tightly controlled clinical trials. But these trials alone cannot capture the full range of patient experiences. Patient-reported data (PRD) is a transformative tool that reflects how treatments affect patients in their daily lives.
In today’s data-rich world, PRD has evolved from being supplementary information to a critical commercial asset, driving a market with an estimated value of approximately USD 5.80bn. A market which is projected to reach USD 19.06bn by 2030, achieving a compound annual growth rate of 18.5% from 2023 to that date*.
For pharmaceutical and biotech companies, patient-reported data (PRD) is not just supportive data. It is a critical tool for demonstrating real-world value, securing market access and achieving product success at each stage of the life cycle. With the healthcare shift toward patient-centred care and value-based models, PRD provides a competitive advantage in understanding and proving a product’s market potential.
*Source: Coherent Market Research – Global Patient-Generated Health Data Market Size and Share Analysis. Published January 2024.

Why real-world data is crucial for pharma and biotech
Controlled clinical trials establish efficacy and safety, but they lack the complexities and diversity of real-world patient experiences. PRD bridges this gap by capturing data directly from patients who manage their conditions outside controlled environments. For pharma companies, PRD offers powerful commercial insights that shape strategies in pricing, reimbursement and product differentiation. By showing how factors such as comorbidities, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, housing and lifestyle impact patient outcomes, PRD gives a fuller picture of product performance across diverse patient populations. This evidence is invaluable in an industry where market access, product longevity and competitive positioning hinge on real-world impact.
Strategic applications of patient-reported data (PRD) across the development life cycle
During pre-launch, PRD helps build a compelling case for market access by providing a real-world view of disease burden and patient needs. By analysing PRD, pharmaceutical companies can demonstrate the true burden of illness and show the impact of untreated or undertreated conditions. This evidence supports pricing strategies that align with value-based care and helps guide discussions with payers.
PRD also informs the design of patient support programmes that address challenges patients face in treatment adherence. With these insights, pharma can position its support programmes as essential resources, which improves both adherence rates and brand loyalty. Early PRD also establishes baseline data for value-based contracting, giving pharma and biotech companies real-world benchmarks for outcomes-based agreements with payers.

Pre Launch: Building access and pricing strategies
During pre-launch, PRD helps build a compelling case for market access by providing a real-world view of disease burden and patient needs. By analysing PRD, pharmaceutical companies can demonstrate the true burden of illness and show the impact of untreated or undertreated conditions. This evidence supports pricing strategies that align with value-based care and helps guide discussions with payers.
PRD also informs the design of patient support programmes that address challenges patients face in treatment adherence. With these insights, pharma can position its support programmes as essential resources, which improves both adherence rates and brand loyalty. Early PRD also establishes baseline data for value-based contracting, giving pharma and biotech companies real-world benchmarks for outcomes-based agreements with payers.

Launch: Driving brand value and prescriber trust
In the launch phase, PRD becomes a vital tool for aligning promotional claims with patient-reported outcomes. Real-world quality-of-life improvements help substantiate marketing claims, creating a powerful foundation in a competitive landscape.
PRD also provides sales teams with insights into patient experiences, enabling more authentic and effective conversations with prescribers. This real-world data allows field teams to reinforce the drug’s value in practical terms, which builds early credibility and drives product adoption. The data also helps overcome prescriber hesitation by highlighting the drug’s real-life effectiveness, supporting a stronger foundation of trust and early adoption.

Growth: Expanding reach and refining support
In the growth phase, PRD continues to support commercial goals by identifying new opportunities for product expansion and enhancing patient support. Real-world data on patient outcomes can reveal areas for label expansion, enabling companies to seek regulatory approval for new indications or patient populations. This expansion drives additional revenue and reinforces the product’s relevance in a competitive market.
PRD insights allow pharma to optimise patient support programmes by tracking adherence and persistence, ensuring that these programmes address patients’ evolving needs. By adjusting support initiatives in response to PRD, companies improve both patient satisfaction and retention. Outcomes data also supports value-based contracts by providing evidence of real-world treatment effectiveness, which justifies premium pricing and strengthens market positioning.

Maturity/Loss of Exclusivity: Sustaining brand loyalty
As a product approaches loss of exclusivity, PRD plays a crucial role in differentiating it from generic or biosimilar competition. Long-term patient experience data underscores sustained quality-of-life benefits, which can drive brand loyalty even in the face of lower-cost alternatives.
By showcasing real-world data that demonstrates consistent patient well-being, pharma and biotech companies can encourage both prescribers and patients to stay with the brand. PRD also guides life cycle management decisions by highlighting unique brand strengths that still offer value. This data-informed approach informs strategic choices on resource allocation, brand positioning and patient engagement, maximising the brand’s relevance and value after patent expiration.

Emerging opportunities in patient-reported data (PRD)
Looking ahead, PRD will play an even greater role, driven by:
- Expanding value-based care models – Value-based care models, especially in markets like Europe and the United States, increasingly depend on PRD to demonstrate measurable outcomes and align treatments with patient-centric healthcare goals.
- Growing regulatory requirements for real world evidence – Regulators worldwide are mandating robust real-world evidence, making patient-reported data a critical tool for demonstrating drug safety, efficacy and long-term value.
- Increasing focus on patient-centred drug development – The shift toward patient-centred drug development relies on PRD to capture nuanced insights into patient needs, preferences and outcomes, guiding more tailored therapies.
- Rising demand for comparative effectiveness data – As stakeholders prioritise value-driven decisions, PRD provides essential comparative effectiveness data to highlight a treatment’s advantages over competing options.
Implementation considerations
Successfully leveraging patient-reported data (PRD) requires a strategic and compliant approach that ensures meaningful insights and actionable outcomes.
Invest in or partner with validated PRD collection platforms
Collaborating with trusted PRD platforms ensures high-quality data collection, streamlined processes, and adherence to industry standards, reducing operational complexity.
Ensure compliance with data privacy regulations
Navigating frameworks like GDPR in Europe and HIPAA in the United States is critical to maintaining patient trust and safeguarding sensitive information throughout the PRD lifecycle.
Develop clear PRD strategies aligned with product goals
A focused PRD strategy, linked directly to your product objectives, helps uncover the most relevant insights, supporting real-world value demonstration and market access efforts.
Build or partner for capabilities in PRD analysis and application
Maximising the value of PRD requires specialised analytical expertise, whether in-house or through partnerships, to transform raw data into actionable insights that inform decision-making and drive commercial success.
PRD provides invaluable insights into the patient journey, strengthens credibility and fosters deeper connections with stakeholders across the healthcare ecosystem. In an industry where commercial success depends on real-world value, PRD is not only a foundation for building trust but also a critical driver of market relevance and brand success.

About Sciensus
Sciensus is a leading European life sciences organisation with over 30 years of experience connecting patients with life-changing medications. We’re redefining patient-centric care, connecting patients with life-changing medicines while empowering pharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals with the insights needed to improve people’s lives.
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