In case you missed it: catch up with snippets from interviews published by In Vivo this week.

Esin Izat, a pharmaceutical marketing research expert, talks to In Vivo about how smaller companies can better utilize pre-launch marketing research and how approaches are changing to reflect new customer profiles and advances in technology.

In a world where national economies are beset by conflicting spending priorities, health care is oftentimes too low on the agenda, health care observers say. One of these is Boston Scientific senior vice-president Eric Thépaut, who understands the dilemmas, but says that health care will soon force its way up the priority list. He has advice for future-ready medtech innovators.

In today’s globalized market for medicines, national rules on pricing and access are abundantly shared and more transparent than opaque. In Vivo speaks to the UK branded industry’s negotiator for the latest five-year joint pricing pact with the government, Richard Torbett, who outlines, among other topics, five widely applicable precedents from the talks that can work in “getting to yes” – despite the fractious budgetary climate for health care evident in all major country markets. 

Medtech’s contribution to health care improvements in Europe over the past 30 years has been a phenomenal journey of success – in patient terms as well as in commercial terms, says MedTech Europe chair Rob ten Hoedt. Local creativity has been able to mine a seam of product innovation that is unmatched anywhere in the world, but the sector is facing massive change and must find ways to cope.

The main priorities for the new chief executive of Japan’s drugs regulator over the next five years include putting patients first by promoting early access while ensuring safety, further strengthening pharmacovigilance as new forms of therapy come through, and increasing collaboration with Asia, as the agency looks to meet the challenges of changing technologies.