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I saw a post the other day in Twitter. Someone wrote, \u201cSo much can be done to improve community and share lessons to improve outcomes. The trick is making money without selling patient data to Pharma.\u201d

Here\u2019s my question for you, and I\u2019m legit asking: I have seen many use cases that benefit patients and that are incredibly worthwhile. But no one is willing to pay for them. That\u2019s the first point this Tweet I just read infers.

And I\u2019ve seen it time and time again: gaps in care no one is willing to fill. If you\u2019re speaking about very specific patient populations in very specific therapeutic categories, like some rare diseases, you\u2019re not going to find basically anyone besides Pharma who has the bandwidth, the money, the expertise, and the reach to fill that gap.

If you contemplate this further, and I have, Pharma might be the only entity who, if they do it, the price of health care doesn\u2019t immediately go up. Hear me out here because I\u2019m wading into controversial waters, so let me make my point before you jump me in a dark alley.

If Pharma does something and it comes out of their existing marketing budget or their R&D budget or some other existing budget, them spending money on filling a patient gap versus them spending money on some TV ad is not going to impact the price of the drug either way. If the price of the drug is already too high, the price of the drug is still too high. That\u2019s going to be true regardless. Why not let Pharma pay the freight for making sure their own patient populations get the best care possible?

This show is posted on LinkedIn and Twitter. Let me know what your thoughts are. I\u2019m very interested.

In this health care podcast, I am really pleased to be speaking with Naomi Fried, PhD. Dr. Fried has had and continues to have a storied career. Each of her roles has always circled around innovation. She\u2019s been the chief innovation officer at Boston Children\u2019s, where she built their first digital health accelerator. She was recruited by Biogen after that to be their VP of innovation and external partnerships. She founded a consulting practice focused on innovation, and her latest endeavor, which she talks about later on in this show, is PharmStars, which is, in my own words, a sort of 10-week crash course/accelerator for digital health start-ups looking to work with Pharma\u2014and for Pharma looking to work with digital health start-ups.

Naomi Fried, PhD, is the founder and CEO of PharmStars, the first and only pharma-focused accelerator for digital health start-ups, dedicated to driving digital health adoption to improve patient outcomes. PharmStars understands and addresses the challenges that Pharma and start-ups face when seeking to collaborate. Its PharmaU\u2122 program supports its digital health start-ups and pharma members seeking to \u201cbridge the gap,\u201d leading to greater success and faster adoption of \u201cbeyond the molecule\u201d solutions for patients. PharmStars provides education and mentoring to digital health start-ups seeking engagement with pharma and biotech firms. Its pharma members are committed to working with its graduating start-ups. Applications for participation in the first cohort are due July 21, 2021.

Dr. Fried is also the co-founder and managing partner of Ambit Health Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund focused on digital health investments. Previously, she was the CEO of the consulting firm Health Innovation Strategies, VP of innovation and external partnerships at Biogen, the first chief innovation officer at Boston Children\u2019s Hospital, and the first VP of innovation and advanced technology at Kaiser Permanente. She advises and serves on the boards of digital health start-ups.

03:42 What does the pharma\u2013start-up gap look like?
05:49 Why is it hard to navigate Big Pharma when trying to partner with start-ups?
09:53 \u201cA lot of what contributes to that pharma\u2013start-up gap is a lack of understanding.\u201d
10:05 What\u2019s the best way to navigate the pharma\u2013start-up partnership?
10:55 \u201cThere\u2019s not a clear path as to who should be engaged from the pharma side, because the value proposition wasn\u2019t well articulated.\u201d
12:27 \u201cEven if \u2026 the product is better, if it\u2019s such an uphill battle to get them through the hoops and to work with them, they may not be the partner of choice.\u201d
13:45 Why are start-ups surprised at who all is involved with the decision-making process on the pharma side?
15:51 Where might start-ups run into regulatory oversight compliance issues?
20:41 \u201cSetting expectations and talking early on \u2026 really, just understanding on both sides \u2026 they have to meet each other and work around these requirements.\u201d
22:02 \u201cStart-ups really are under financial pressure.\u201d
26:33 \u201cPharma has a lot to offer digital health start-ups.\u201d
27:40 Is Pharma any good at selling something to a provider?
29:22 What do start-ups need to keep in mind when pitching to Pharma?
30:35 \u201cUnderstanding Pharma\u2019s needs, how they work, what they will pay for is so important for start-ups.\u201d

@NaomiFried of @AmbitHealth discusses @PharmStars on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #pharma

What does the pharma\u2013start-up gap look like? @NaomiFried of @AmbitHealth discusses @PharmStars on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #pharma

Why is it hard to navigate Big Pharma when trying to partner with start-ups? @NaomiFried of @AmbitHealth discusses @PharmStars on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #pharma

\u201cA lot of what contributes to that pharma\u2013start-up gap is a lack of understanding.\u201d @NaomiFried of @AmbitHealth discusses @PharmStars on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #pharma

What\u2019s the best way to navigate the pharma\u2013start-up partnership? @NaomiFried of @AmbitHealth discusses @PharmStars on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #pharma

\u201cEven if \u2026 the product is better, if it\u2019s such an uphill battle to get them through the hoops and to work with them, they may not be the partner of choice.\u201d @NaomiFried of @AmbitHealth discusses @PharmStars on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #pharma

\u201cStart-ups really are under financial pressure.\u201d @NaomiFried of @AmbitHealth discusses @PharmStars on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #pharma

\u201cPharma has a lot to offer digital health start-ups.\u201d @NaomiFried of @AmbitHealth discusses @PharmStars on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #pharma

What do start-ups need to keep in mind when pitching to Pharma? @NaomiFried of @AmbitHealth discusses @PharmStars on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #pharma

\u201cUnderstanding Pharma\u2019s needs, how they work, what they will pay for is so important for start-ups.\u201d @NaomiFried of @AmbitHealth discusses @PharmStars on our #healthcarepodcast. #healthcare #podcast #digitalhealth #pharma