Biohaven Pharmaceuticals developed six different value-based contracting options to support the launch of acute migraine therapy, Nurtec ODT. Despite contract complexity and lingering regulatory risk, payers are aggressively pursuing value-based contracts, leading even small biopharmas to invest in strong health economics capabilities.

At the end of December 2020, Kenneth Kaitin retired as director of the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development after 23 years in the role, and 35 years working with the CSDD. Kenneth Getz, previously professor and deputy director of the CSDD, succeeds Kaitin as director in 2021. 

As a freshman interested in neurobiology at Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, Virginie Buggia-Prevot knocked on the lab door of an esteemed neurosurgeon and professor conducting research on deep brain stimulation. She was hooked; following a PhD in neurobiology and a post doc at the University of Chicago, Buggia-Prevot joined MD Anderson’s Neurodegeneration Consortium, managing strategic alliances and working on drug discovery. In November, she joined Valo as director of neurology discovery, an opportunity to bring new research in neurodegeneration to bear on patients’ lives.