New York, NY — You’ve seen the headlines and heard the candidates pounding their podiums. The cost of prescription drugs, they say, is too high. But wait, says industry, we produced over 300 new medications in a decade. Treatments that changed and saved the lives of literally millions of people. There’s value there, not just cost.
But to the person standing at the pharmacy counter or the doctor counseling not just on physical health but financial health, that value story can be incredibly difficult to see. That may be why Pfizer decided to stop talking about it and start showing it. In a new spot that debuted last week, they took consumers inside the world of drug discovery – not with beakers and futuristic music but with the hopes and dreams and late nights of people much like you:
Why it matters
A Harris Poll last year found that nearly three of every four Americans (73 percent) want price controls placed on manufacturers of drugs and medical devices. That’s up from 64 percent who favored such controls in a 2014 poll.
In fact, now, in the U.S., the #1 healthcare priority voters have for Congress and the president is “making sure that high-cost drugs for chronic conditions, such as HIV, hepatitis, mental illness and cancer, are affordable to those who need them.” That’s a mission pharma leaders share and a conversation we want to be part of. Programs like Pfizer’s Discover help consumers and lawmakers alike see deeper into our industry and fuel a healthier conversation about healthier lives.
As Managing Director of Innovation and Insights for Syneos Health Communications, Leigh is responsible for building and scaling a global team of healthcare experts who together help life science leaders better understand the complex lives, influences and expectations of their customers. Specifically, they uncover actionable insights that fuel empathy and creativity; lead co-creation events that let marketers learn from peers, trends, and new possibilities; and help clients identify the most valuable and useful new customer experiences to create.
Leigh has worked with Fortune 1000 companies to craft their digital, mobile, social and CRM strategies for nearly 20 years.She’s worked for category-leading agencies in retail, public affairs, B2B technology, and higher education. Prior to moving to Syneos Health Communications, she held several leadership roles at our largest agency, GSW. There, she founded an innovation practice fueled by the zeitgeist and spearheaded digital and innovation thinking across the business.
Leigh has taken a special interest in complex healthcare products that can change lives in meaningful ways. She was recently a strategic lead on the 3rd largest launch in pharmaceutical history: Tecfidera. Before that she had keys roles with Eli Lilly Oncology, Abbott Nutrition, Amgen Cardiovascular, and Eli Lilly Diabetes.
A critical part of Leigh’s work is trends and new ideas. Every year, she convenes a group of trend watchers from across our global network to identify the shifts most critical to healthcare marketers. This year, she led over 250 experts to experts to focus on the most important changes in the commercial, consumer, marketing, digital and healthcare landscapes. (See reports at trends.health)
Leigh is a sought-after writer and speaker. Recognized as one of the most inspiring people in the pharmaceutical industry by PharmaVoice and Top 10 Innovation Catalysts of 2017 by MM&M, Leigh also was recognized as a Rising Star by the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA) for her overt passion, industry thought leadership and significant contributions in new business, strategy and mentoring.
