The view from the advisory board - the key questions for our oncology community

Their feedback will provide the backbone for our activities. Over the coming months these topics will be translated into meetings where our community will discuss the questions and provide feedback and insights.

We broke the conversation down into four topics, with each led by an advisory board member.

The potential for partnerships between digital health entrepreneurs and pharma is clear, with both having compelling qualities to bring to the table. In practice, however, things get a little bit more tricky. Recent reports pointed to the lack of success in the wild -one found that a mere 4% of pharma’s digital product launches proved successful. 

The question of partnerships is not just confined to industry, for a complex disease like oncology, so how can hospital and payor partnerships play a greater role? What are the do’s and don’ts when seeking partnerships for digital health in oncology? 

The question of how to build evidence is a complex one - it is hard to start with economic evidence when clinical evidence is also required, but often companies can’t skip either - the goal is not just to satisfy regulators but also to build the case for adoption. 

Breaking down the evidence requirements from payers and regulatory bodies was a key issue identified as core to our community. Within oncology, measuring the impact of digital solutions is also far from straightforward, particularly when it comes to data around proof points such as improvements in quality of life. How can companies build a compelling case without a clear template?  

For digital health to have an impact in a complex disease area like oncology, it has to fit into the existing care framework and complement, rather than add to, the burden on patients and, crucially, the care team. 

A key topic for the HealthXL community is building incentive models for health care professionals and care teams to adopt digital health in oncology. That incentive model isn’t just financial, but it does at least need to be financially aligned. Anecdotally, some companies have shown evidence and gained reimbursement, but are stuck at the adoption hurdle. How do we change this?

That is perhaps also an issue when it comes to building scalable business models. We see examples of single entity experiments which are not built to scale. If you can’t scale a product, everything else becomes meaningless. How can companies build to scale and ensure they have the right key performance indicators to guide them towards success?

The regulatory landscape around digital health is maturing, with several companies navigating the path successfully. 

There are lessons to be learned in how Oncology DTx is being regulated. What are the  best practices and the pitfalls to avoid for Oncology DTXs?