MAP - Market Access Podcast

Hosted by Dr. Stefan Walzer

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Episodes

123

Latest episode

Nov 2026

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About the show

Market Access (or alternatively reimbursement) in health care is THE key competence in order to be commercially successful with a new drug, medical device or digital health application. However, given the fact that market access is a complex field involving various disciplines and is an ever-changing field, it is difficult to be up to speed with the different evolvements across the world. MAP is THE bi-weekly Market Access Podcast provided by MArS Market Access & Pricing Strategy, which is your health care consultancy in the German-speaking markets and allows you to keep up to date with market access , reimbursement and pricing issues in the D-A-CH countries and around the world. With MAP you will get a summary of core market access systems and processes as well as latest changes in regulations including statements and opinions of core decision makers and stakeholders from various countries. The CEO and founder of MArS is also the driver behind MAP: Dr. Stefan Walzer works in the field of payer strategy, pricing, health economics and reimbursement since 2004 and is the founder and CEO of MArS Market Access & Pricing Strategy GmbH based in Germany. MArS makes it as easy as possible for you to get your Pharmaceutical, MedTech or digital health product to the market and of course get the price it deserves. Stefan previously worked as a payer consultant for various global pharmaceutical and medical device / diagnostic companies, successfully launching their products across the world. He was the Global Payer Strategy Leader for various products and compounds at F. Hoffmann – La Roche AG, where he successfully developed early payer strategies as well as launching and maintaining the reimbursement process for top brands and early compounds. Stefan is capable in translating the clinical and economic evidence into successful reimbursement submissions and pricing negotiations especially in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Additionally he teaches market access, pricing and negotiations at the State University of Baden-Wuerttemberg and the University of Applied Sciences Weingarten-Ravensburg (both Germany). Besides other roles and responsibilities. Stefan was the head of the committee “Inpatient care” of the German Health Economic Association (DGGÖ). Furthermore he is also a member of the Austrian Health Economic Association (ATHEA) and the Swiss Health Economic Association (SGGÖ). Additionally, he is a member of the Access Advisory Committee of the Global Pneumonia Prevention Coalition. Stefan received a Master of Science in Economics from the University of Tuebingen (Germany), a PhD in Health Economics from the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and a post-graduate diploma in Clinical Trials from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (UK). He is co-author of more than 40 peer-reviewed scientific articles and more than 300 scientific abstracts.

Listen to episodes

60 recent

November 1, 202638 min

How Can HEOR Teams Build Trust in AI-Generated Models, Haidong Feng?

AI is reshaping health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) – but where does it truly belong? In this MAP episode, Dr. Stefan Walzer talks with Haidong Feng, Associate Principal Scientist at Merck, about “human in the loop” versus “AI in the loop” and why the two complement rather than contradict each other. Haidong explains why HEOR teams should reshape entire workflows – from evidence retrieval to modeling, validation and documentation – instead of replacing single tools like Excel or R, and why human experts remain essential in deciding where validation is needed. They also discuss how to earn the trust of HTA bodies in AI-supported models, which new skills modelers will need, how organizations can connect AI workflows across functions, and why the biggest barrier ahead is people, not technology. Stay connected by subscribing on your favorite podcast platform or listening directly on our website: MAP Podcasts — and if you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to rate it and the podcast! MAP is the first and only bi-weekly market access podcast provided by MArS — and the global #1 podcast in the field of health economics. For more information about MArS Market Access and Pricing Strategy, visit: https://marketaccess4-0.com/ #MarketAccess #HEOR #HealthEconomics #AI #HumanInTheLoop #AIintheLoop #HTA #Pharma #PricingStrategy #MAPPodcast

October 15, 202645 min

Can US GLOBE and GUARD Models Really Lower Drug Prices, Brittany La Couture?

When the US benchmarks drug prices against other countries, the whole world feels it. In this episode of MAP – the Market Access Podcast, Dr. Stefan Walzer sits down with Brittany La Couture of Applied Policy, a health policy attorney with eight years at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to unpack the US “most favored nation” approach to drug pricing and the three CMMI models behind it: GENEROUS, GLOBE and GUARD. They discuss why providers and patients may carry the cost, why Brittany sees the models as a tax on manufacturers rather than a price cut, and whether launch delays in Europe point to a more fragmented global market. Stay connected by subscribing on your favorite podcast platform or listening directly on our website: MAP Podcasts — and if you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to rate it and the podcast! MAP is the first and only bi-weekly market access podcast provided by MArS — and the global #1 podcast in the field of health economics. For more information about MArS Market Access and Pricing Strategy, visit: https://marketaccess4-0.com/ #MarketAccess #DrugPricing #MostFavoredNation #MFN #GLOBEModel #GUARDModel #CMMI #HealthPolicy #HealthEconomics #Pharma #PricingStrategy #MAPPodcast

October 1, 202641 min

What Will It Take to Keep Biotech Growing in Europe, Rainer Westermann?

In this episode of MAP – the Market Access Podcast, Dr. Stefan Walzer sits down with Rainer Westermann, Chairman of the Life Sciences Acceleration Alliance (LSAA), to ask whether Europe can remain a globally competitive home for life sciences innovation — and what has to change for new therapies to reach patients. Bringing an investor's lens, Rainer explains why so many promising European companies scale in the US instead: the "valley of death" between great science and a viable business, the shortage of productive growth capital, the absence of a deep, liquid capital market, and the drag of long timelines, fragmented member-state systems, and cost-containment-first thinking. They also unpack the ripple effects of the US Most Favored Nation policy, the patent cliff, and why patients — who are also voters — belong at the center of the debate. Stay connected by subscribing on your favorite podcast platform or listening directly on our website: MAP Podcasts —and if you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to rate it and the podcast! MAP is the first and only bi-weekly market access podcast provided by MArS—and the global #1 podcast in the field of health economics. For more information about MArS Market Access and Pricing Strategy, visit: https://marketaccess4-0.com/ #MarketAccess #LifeSciences #Biotech #VentureCapital #PharmaInnovation #HealthcareInvestment #EuropeanUnion #MFN #MarketAccessStrategy #marketaccesspodcast

September 15, 202639 min

How Do You Build a High-Performing Team in Pharma, Dr. Maurice Kléber?

In this episode of MAP – the Market Access Podcast, Dr. Stefan Walzer sits down with Dr. Maurice Kléber to explore what building a winning team really takes — drawing on 18 years of leadership and a shared love of ice hockey. They discuss why trust and psychological safety are the foundation of any high-performing team, how role clarity and shared accountability turn a group of individuals into a unit, and why talent alone never wins — culture does. Along the way, Dr. Maurice shares the analogies he uses to make leadership tangible, from ships in a storm to aligned waves. A must-listen for leaders in pharma, market access, and beyond. Stay connected by subscribing on your favorite podcast platform or listening directly on our website: MAP Podcasts — and if you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to rate it and the podcast! MAP is the first and only bi-weekly market access podcast provided by MArS — and the global #1 podcast in the field of health economics. For more information about MArS Market Access and Pricing Strategy, visit: https://marketaccess4-0.com/ #MarketAccess #Leadership #PharmaLeadership #HighPerformingTeams #WinningMindset #CellTherapy #Pharma #IceHockey #marketaccesspodcast

September 1, 202638 min

Where Does AI Really Add Value in Market Access, Dr. Seye Abogunrin?

Everyone wants AI to click the button for them — the real question is whether you still need to click it at all. In this episode of MAP – the Market Access Podcast, Dr. Stefan Walzer sits down with Dr. Seye Abogunrin, a health economist at Roche, Switzerland, to move AI in market access from experimentation to execution. They explore where AI adds real value today — drafting dossier text, screening titles and abstracts, extracting data from full-text papers — and why out-of-the-box prompting isn't enough. Seye makes the case that AI delivers strong first drafts, not submission-ready evidence, and that the human must stay "in the lead" for scientific rigor and credibility. They also unpack the real blockers at scale — change management, compliance, and data leakage — and why fully leveraging AI may mean overhauling our processes, not just speeding them up. The conversation also looks at how to identify the use cases that are genuinely worth scaling, rather than adopting AI for the sake of it. And as AI becomes more capable, the bigger opportunity may be to rethink how market access work gets done — not simply to make existing processes faster. Stay connected by subscribing on your favorite podcast platform or listening directly on our website: MAP Podcasts — and if you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to rate it and the podcast! MAP is the first and only bi-weekly market access podcast provided by MArS — and the global #1 podcast in the field of health economics. For more information about MArS Market Access and Pricing Strategy, visit: https://marketaccess4-0.com/ #MarketAccess #HealthEconomics #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #AIinHealthcare #HEOR #EvidenceSynthesis #HTA #DigitalHealth #MAPPodcast #marketaccess #marketaccesspodcast

August 15, 202629 min

Why Should Early Health Economics Move Upstream, Dr. Björn Schwander & Julie Frappier?

By the time most health economists get pulled in, the recipe is already set. In this episode of MAP – the Market Access Podcast, Dr. Stefan Walzer sits down with two industry veterans — Dr. Björn Schwander, Founder of AHEAD GmbH and a specialist in early health economic modeling, and Julie Frappier, senior health economist and Founder of TOWWERS — to make the case for moving early health economics upstream. The conversation reframes value as more than a financial number: the combination of clinical relevance, economic relevance, and affordability, aligned early across the "five Ps" — patients, prescribers, policymakers, payers, and producers. Björn and Julie explain why early models should be deliberately simple, built to test scenarios and surface the strongest value signals rather than chase false precision, and why embracing uncertainty is a feature, not a flaw. They also tackle the implementation risk too often ignored — illustrated by a CAR-T case in Quebec where it took a full year to treat the first patient after approval — and why an early "no-go" can be just as valuable as a green light. LinkedIn: Dr. Björn Schwander https://www.linkedin.com/in/bjoern-schwander-phd-672040b/ Julie Frappier https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-frappier-b5642a3/ #MarketAccess #HealthEconomics #HEOR #EarlyModeling #RealWorldEvidence #HealthEconomicModeling #HTA #ValueBasedHealthcare #Reimbursement #MedTech #DigitalHealth #mAxInsights #marketaccesspodcast

August 1, 202634 min

How Are Data Privacy Laws Delaying Patient Access to New Treatments, Douglas Drake and Adam Skali? (Repost)

This is a repost of a popular episode of MAP - Market Access Podcast, from March 1st 2025. In this episode of MAP, Dr. Stefan Walzer, together with experts Douglas Drake and Adam Skali, unpacks the complexities of how GDPR regulations affect real-world evidence, cross-border studies, and market access in Europe. The discussion highlights data privacy challenges, delays in commercialization, and the future of healthcare data regulation. Learn more about how data privacy laws create barriers for cross-border studies, delaying access to life-saving treatments, and how companies can navigate these hurdles and optimize market entry strategies. Can Europe find a balance between data privacy and innovation? Tune in to explore the challenges, solutions, and what’s next for healthcare in the EU. Stay connected by subscribing on your favorite podcast platform or listening directly on our website: MAP Podcasts — and if you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to rate it and the podcast! MAP is the first and only bi-weekly market access podcast provided by MArS — and the global #1 podcast in the field of health economics. For more information about MArS Market Access and Pricing Strategy, visit: https://marketaccess4-0.com/ #GDPR, #MarketAccess, #Real-WorldEvidence, #HealthcareData, #Pharma, #MedTech, #Cross-BorderStudies #mAxInsights #marketaccess #marketaccesspodcast

July 15, 202633 min

How Did MFN Turn Swiss Pricing into an Industrial Policy Problem, Dr. Marcel Boller?

When Bern sets a price, Washington now listens. In this episode of MAP – the Market Access Podcast, Dr. Stefan Walzer sits down with Dr. Marcel Boller, Pharma and Medtech Expert and Partner at Werder Viganò in Zurich, to unpack why Swiss pricing reform has shifted from a reimbursement question into an industrial policy one. With Switzerland now in the US "Most Favored Nation" (MFN) reference basket, every price negotiated with the BAG (Swiss Federal Office of Public Health) signals straight to US payers. They discuss why fast Swissmedic approvals are undercut by slow reimbursement negotiations, and how the "local matador" concentration of power at the BAG leaves Switzerland without an independent HTA function. The Lilly Mounjaro case says it all: frozen for nearly two years, then listed on 1 January 2026 — just weeks after an MFN deal in the US. Yet Marcel's bottom line is optimistic: few countries can truly afford a high-quality healthcare system — and Switzerland could turn that into global leadership on patient access. LinkedIn: Dr. Marcel Boller ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcel-Boller-/ ) Stay connected by subscribing on your favorite podcast platform or listening directly on our website: MAP Podcasts — and if you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to rate it and the podcast! MAP is the first and only bi-weekly market access podcast provided by MArS — and the global #1 podcast in the field of health economics. For more information about MArS Market Access and Pricing Strategy, visit: https://marketaccess4-0.com/ #MarketAccess #HealthEconomics #HTA #MFN #Switzerland #Swissmedic #PharmaPolicy #PricingAndReimbursement #PatientAccess #MostFavoredNation #mAxInsights #marketaccesspodcast

July 1, 202632 min

Is the EU "Launch Obligation" Really as Scary as It Sounds, Dr. Alexander Natz?

In the latest episode of MAP – the Market Access Podcast, Dr. Stefan Walzer sits down with Dr. Alexander Natz, Secretary-General of EUCOPE, to unpack the biggest regulatory shifts reshaping pharmaceutical market access across Europe right now. They discuss how the EU Joint Clinical Assessment (JCA) now starts national HTA timelines as soon as a marketing authorization is filed, why the so-called "launch obligation" is far from compulsory licensing, and how MFN pricing pressure from the US is forcing companies to rethink launch sequencing across Europe. Alexander also explains why comparator selection (PICO schemes) is the real battleground for national pricing outcomes, and why the European Health Data Space could become one of Europe's biggest competitive assets. Despite the added complexity, Alexander's bottom line is clear: Europe's scale, clinical networks, and regulatory innovation still make it a market worth prioritizing — if companies understand the new rules of the game. A must-listen for anyone in pharma, biotech, market access, or pricing and reimbursement navigating Europe's shifting launch strategy. LinkedIn: Alexander Natz Stay connected by subscribing on your favorite podcast platform or listening directly on our website: MAP Podcasts —and if you enjoyed the episode, don't forget to rate it and the podcast! MAP is the first and only bi-weekly market access podcast provided by MArS—and the global #1 podcast in the field of health economics. For more information about MArS Market Access and Pricing Strategy, visit: https://marketaccess4-0.com/ #MarketAccess #HealthEconomics #HTA #JCA #PharmaPolicy #EUHealthPolicy #MFN #Pharma #PricingAndReimbursement #LaunchStrategy #EuropeanHealthDataSpace #EUCOPE #mAxInsights #marketaccesspodcast

June 15, 202637 min

Dynamic Rebates, Drug Tenders & AMNOG: Is Germany Rewriting the Rules for Pharma, Thomas Hammerschmidt?

Tune in to the newest episode of MAP, the Market Access Podcast, where Dr. Stefan Walzer engages in an insightful discussion with Prof. Dr. Thomas Hammerschmidt, a leading expert in Pharmaceutical Management at the Technical University of Applied Sciences (TH Rosenheim) in Bavaria. Together, they explore the latest proposals influencing AMNOG, pharmaceutical pricing, reimbursement, and market access. Topics include dynamic mandatory rebates, patented drug tenders, price-volume agreements, and their potential consequences for pharmaceutical companies operating in Germany. The removal of combination rebates and AMNOG guardrails could foster greater innovation incentives. The key takeaway? Pharma companies must brace themselves for heightened pricing pressures, increased uncertainty, and a transformed reimbursement landscape. For teams focused on market access, pricing, and commercialization, the upcoming weeks could shape the reimbursement environment for years to come. The critical question: Can Germany balance healthcare cost containment while maintaining incentives for pharmaceutical innovation and investment? Stay connected by subscribing on your favorite podcast platform or listening directly on our website: MAP Podcasts —and if you enjoyed the episode, don’t forget to rate it and the podcast! MAP is the first and only bi-weekly market access podcast provided by MArS—and the global #1 podcast in the field of health economics. For more information about MArS Market Access and Pricing Strategy, visit: https://marketaccess4-0.com/ #MarketAccess #Pharma #AMNOG #HealthcarePolicy #GermanyPharmaReform #PricingAndReimbursement #PatentedDrugTenders #PharmaceuticalIndustry #Germany #HealthEconomics #MarketAccessPodcast #LifeSciences #HealthcareInnovation #mAxInsights #marketaccesspodcast