Healthcare Businesswomen's Association

HBA Central New Jersey Event - Understanding Market Access - Value to Patients and Your Career

HBA Central New Jersey Event - Understanding Market Access - Value to Patients and Your Career

Authored by Elizabeth Dolgos, PharmD

On the evening of 12 September 2024, HBA Central New Jersey presented this special, live, Sanofie sponsored event in Bridgewater, NJ. It had a wonderful turnout of around 100 professionals who came to network and learn from the esteemed market access executives who joined this session:

The event started off with a networking reception in which attendees were able to make new connections and catch up with old friends. Once everyone settled in, the audience learned about how the HBA can benefit their careers and then Nazanin kicked off the program with a general market access overview which segued into the panel discussion. She moderated the subsequent conversation with the panelists who described their careers in market access, their perspectives of the field, key learnings, and compared paradigms of the American market versus other Global markets.

An engaging and productive discussion followed on how in the constantly evolving landscape of healthcare, market access plays a pivotal role in ensuring therapies reach those who need them. It starts early in the product lifecycle and represents the strategies that help get new drugs to patients and overcome potential barriers to access. Every new product is a different puzzle to solve that requires strategic thinking across disciplines and sectors in a market that changes day to day. This area needs people who can see different perspectives, ask questions, listen, be curious, and connect the dots. Speakers encouraged attendees to get a few years of experience in market access to truly understand the nuances of it.

As the evening progressed the panel touched on the importance of women leaders in this space and discussed how everyone can excel. They encouraged everyone to get market access experience at some point in their careers as it intersects with so many specialties across the healthcare industry. It was also stressed that there are a wide variety of career paths within market access, it’s important to build your networks and relationships, and many skills are transferable. A market access background is also a great springboard for other careers within healthcare.

During the Question-and-Answer portion of the session, audience questions touched on key aspects of advancing or starting a career within the field of market access. The panelists shared knowledge, strategies, and encouragement that enabled an exploration of topics such as career progression, necessary skills, foundational knowledge, and transitioning from other sectors. Additionally, there was interest in how those in market access can address healthcare literacy and equity issues. This was a wonderful opportunity to learn, build personal networks and relationships, and meet other like-minded colleagues. 

As audience member Arlene Marie Karole shared "As a first-time attendee of the HBA program, I’ve been genuinely inspired by the speakers and found the program to be incredibly impactful. The wealth of insights and practical takeaways have exceeded my expectations."

At the end of the evening many left the venue inspired to continue these discussions and a curiosity to learn more.

Special thanks 

Thank you to the speakers for contributing their time and expertise to make this program a dynamic, inspiring event.

HBA Central NJ would additionally like to thank Sanofi for their support with special thanks to Sangeeta Pillai, Sandra Pompei, Patricia Stein, Mrunmayee Ustoorikar, Prasanth Vijayakumar, and the Sanofi Production, Catering and Security Teams. 

Thanks also to the HBA volunteers whose work made this event possible: Poorna Ashok, Tonye Briggs-Medley, Phyllis Feeney, Elizabeth Dolgos, Arlene Marie Karole, Rosellen Koshy, Sumathi Madadi, Sukanya Murali, Toni Ajavon-Hartmann, Blythe Anderson, Khushbu Nathani, Olga Karagiozova, Juliet Hart, Lisa Yates, Sharon List, Leia Akre, Quinnie Wong, Anu Ganguly, Neena Mehta, Stephanie Raspa, and Puja Patel.

Speaker profiles

Nazanin Mehin leads Global Market Access and Pricing for Immunology at Sanofi, guiding her teams to integrate medical, marketing and affiliates to demonstrate the value of healthcare interventions to payers. She has spent over thirty years in healthcare, transitioning from a pharmacist in the Canadian public healthcare system to serving across multiple global market access leadership roles in industry. She has held leadership roles in health economics, market access, and pricing since joining Sanofi. Nazanin is always striving to achieve strategic business goals and secure local access for patients while creating and operationalizing high-performing market access team functions.

Olivier Bogillot is Head of North America General Medicines at Sanofi, leading the business unit responsible for serving the Diabetes, Transplant, and Established Products communities. He has held various positions at Sanofi including Executive Director of Global Policy based in the U.S., Chief of Staff to the CEO, and President of Sanofi France. Olivier has previously had key roles in market access at Merck KGaA, Amgen, and Bristol Myers Squibb. He was also Chief of Staff to the Director at the Greater Paris Regional Health Agency then joined the Presidency of the French Republic as advisor for health, dependency, and social policies.

Negelle Morris is the Senior Vice President of U.S. Cardiometabolic Sales at Novo Nordisk. Her career spans over 25 years as a leader in direct patient care, payer access, sales, and marketing strategy. Known for her business impact and deep appreciation for the inherent value of people, Negelle has championed leadership, diversity, and inclusion focusing on the development of others and healthcare disparities. Negelle has received numerous awards and accolades, including the 2024 Top Blacks in Healthcare Award and being featured in 2023 by Diversity Woman Media as one of the top 100 Black women leaders in the country.

E. Garrett Ingram is a top biotech executive with intimate expertise in global medicines and market access, and over twenty years of experience in pharmaceuticals, biotech, and device marketing. She joined Cipla as Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Cipla Therapeutics to lead the transformation of the current and future biotech & specialty platforms. In 2020 Garrett was appointed President & CEO of Cipla Therapeutics, Inc. leading the institutional specialty business. In 2023 she was named a Top 25 Healthcare technology leader of NJ. Previously, she held leadership roles at MannKind, Dexcom, Sanofi, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Novo Nordisk.

Lalitha Priya Chandrashekhar is a market access and HEOR strategist, entrepreneur, startup advisor and the founder and CEO of PFG MedComm, LLC. She is an award-winning visionary leader in healthcare communications with over 18 years of experience. Passionate about patient value and access, Priya founded PFG MedComm in 2013, with the vision of taking a different approach to market access strategy. As a minority and woman founder of a remote company, she champions inclusivity, supporting women, minorities, parents, and advocates. Beyond her work with PFG MedComm, Priya actively works to support and promote diverse founders in healthtech.

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