Most companies make pricing an after thought.

Most companies also are never able to use pricing as the superpower it actually is.  

I have had the privilege of overseeing revenue management for over $6 billion in revenue across a diverse range of industries during the past decade. Throughout this experience, I've gained a deep understanding of the critical role that pricing plays in business success. 

I'm passionate about sharing my expertise and insights to help organizations harness the power of pricing strategies to improve profitability and overall performance.

Karan Sood

Pricing skills should be pie-shaped.


Most pricing professionals grow deep in only one or two areas.


The ones who rise will build a 4-layer toolkit.

Before we dive in, if this resonates, please like + share so more people in pricing see this.



1) Core Skill - Pricing: This is your foundation.

You need breadth across pricing models AND depth in how pricing actually works across industries. It’s not enough to just know one space.


You should know how to price a widget, a service contract… a subscription… a perpetual license… usage pricing… value-based vs. cost-plus.


Your pricing instinct comes from knowing many models - not just the one in your company. Talk to people outside of your core.



2) Essential Skills - Finance + Industry

Finance is non-negotiable. If you don’t know what’s inside a P&L, you should start now. You should be able to understand:

AR
BOM
payment terms
reserves
accruals
margin math contribution vs. gross…

You should be able to slay a P&L, 7 ways to Sunday.

Industry knowledge is the other essential. Knowing the market, competitors, and the value chain. It will let you speak with authority in any room.



3) Preferred - Soft Skills:

This is where careers are made. Don’t underestimate this. Don’t just be the excel ninja, that is tablestakes. 

Need to grow your Influence.
Be better at executive communication.
Stakeholder management.
Framing difficult conversations.
Reading a room full of execs. 
Know when to be firm and flexible.



4) Desirable - Cross-Functional Knowledge

This is your long-tail advantage. Know other areas of the business like:

Sales and Marketing
Operations
Contracts
Supply chain
Commercial terms
Basic legal understanding
Internal processes


You don’t need to master everything, but knowing how things actually work makes you a far more strategic partner.


Develop this skill set and your impact becomes impossible to ignore.


If you made it this far, please: 

👍🏼Like it or 
♻️share it with everyone
✉️ Send it to a peer.
💾 Save it for yourself

————————
Making conversations like this easier with PricingTribe.

Something pricing. Be a part of PricingTribe.

Stop obsessing over price. Your customers aren’t. More you obsess, more you fear.


Price is just one of the many triggers in a buying decision - and often not the biggest one.

Usually it’s the 3rd or the 4th factor.


Here’s one of my favourite research examples:


Alan Sawyer and Peter Dickson once stood in a supermarket aisle watching people shop.
They noted which items went into the cart… then asked those same shoppers the price of the item they just picked up.


The results?

- Half the shoppers were wrong.
- Most underestimated the price by ~15%.
- One-fifth couldn’t recall the price at all.


If people can’t recall the price of something they literally bought 30 seconds ago, what does that say?

You try, do you remember the price of the last item you purchased ?



It tells you this:

Price matters, but it rarely drives the entire decision. And only 15%~20% of customers are truly price sensitive.


Yet most companies behave like 100% of their customers are price sensitive - and they underprice themselves into the ground.


Yes, there are exceptions like commodities, hyper-competitive categories, and recessionary pressure. But even then, those conditions are temporary.



The fundamentals never change:
- Build a brand.
- Obsess over value.
- Obsess over quality.
- Obsess over delivery.
- Obsess over your customer.


Retail or B2B? Same principles apply.


Price is a signal. Value is the engine.

If this is useful:

✉️ send it to someone 
♻️ Repost it to your network
💾 Save it for the future.


————————-
Building PricingTribe. Ask me anything about the community.

No alternative text description for this image

5 tips I gave the MBA and a Masters Class.


1) You can’t escape pricing. No matter what field you end up weather that’s finance, marketing, or product, you won’t be far from pricing. So empower yourself.


2) Remember nothing will increase profitability for any company you work for like pricing. So when asked for ideas for next year, remember ‘Pricing Optimization’.


3) Whatever pricing decision you make, do it ethically. Remember very fine line between what’s good for profit va what’s ethical and good for customers.


4) Build something. Anything. It has never been easier to build. Build a website, an app, a  newsletter. Whatever gives you an edge. Learn to use loveable and claude !


5) In a world of AI, cherish human connections. Network relentlessly !! I wish I did in univ, I thought that was a chore not worth the effort. I wish I listened…


6) Decide your future role now, don’t leave it for luck for after graduation. If you dream it up, then lot of forces will align to make it happen. 


7) Add people from your future domain now on LinkedIn. Chat, and meet them virtually. What’s the worse that can happen ? You got nothing to loose.


8) Add the 1% extra in your job search effort. That 1% could be finding a referral, messaging the hiring manager, sending a pain letter, sending your portfolio, connecting with an alumni….all these added up or even individually will make you stand out.


9) Cherish your time at the univ with your peers. Some of you will become lifelong friends. As gruesome and challening this time is, you will never be back in school once you are done. This will be it !! 


10) This holiday season use Keepa to save yourself some money on Amazon, buy airline tickets in incongito mode on android :D


Thank you to my alma matter and Dave Bussière  for bringing me back to the same halls and classrooms that I once roamed as a student. It was good to be back !! 


___________________
Building PricingTribe.

I didn’t say that. John did.
John who ? Baba yaga ?
(Had to ! IYKYK)

I love this quote.

Lot of products fall into this bucket. 

Apple, 
Coke, 
P&G, 
lululemon, 
starbucks, 
Air jordans, 
Sonos, 
Dyson,
Disney trips,

List goes on…


But honestly I have no idea about the origin of the author. Anyone has any idea about the John Harrison who said it ? 

——————————-
PricingTribe community is going live soon for Alpha founding cohort.

Starting or stepping into a new pricing role?
Don’t dream big. Dream small.

I know the instinct. You want to take on the biggest, baddest pricing problem.

Trust me - I’ve done it. And I won’t do it again. 

Here is the mistake pricing professionals make in new roles:

They aim for a big win too early when they have 0 credability.


But early in the role is about sustainability, credibility, and momentum. Your first few months should be about small wins.


Fix the things everyone ignored. Simple things like clear the backlog people were too lazy or too scared to touch.


These small wins do the heavy lifting. They show your execution power. The wins are small but so are the losses.



Small becomes smooth. Smooth becomes fast. Fast becomes trust.


And trust is the real skill in pricing. You are not going to go far without it.



Why does this matter?


Pricing is already a cross-discipline battlefield  with Sales, Product, Finance, Ops, Execs. Everyone has an opinion, and none of them match.


When you take on a big pricing overhaul too early, two things happen:


- Time to value increases.
-  Cost to value increases.


That’s when red flags appear. And when big projects fail, the losses get amplified.


The “I told you it wouldn’t work” rhetoric takes over. Your credibility takes a hit.



This is why I always advocate for small execution early on. Frequent, visible, low-risk impact before the big swings.


What do small wins look like?


- Fix clunky approval workflows
- Clean messy price lists
- Delete old SKUs or discount rules
- Tighten discount guardrails
- Run simple PVM or waterfall analyses
- Repair spreadsheets everyone fears
- Schedule 1:1s with Sales
- Shadow a few customer calls


Small actions. Big intent. Bigger impact.


Go small and go far !!
————-
PricingTribe community is live. Slowly onboarding founding members. If you applied, your invite will come soon in coming weeks keep an eye out for ‘PricingTribe’ in your emails.

5 fundamental questions in Pricing: 

1) What value are you creating? Economic/Emotional.

2) Who is it truly for? Your ideal ICP.

3) Why is it worth this price ? WTP.
 
4) What proof do you have that customer agree ? Research.

5) Who inside the company believes in this price enough to defend it? Person of Influence.


You can elasticity-model, price-index, A/B test and competitor-benchmark all day. You can debate pricing ownership till the cows come home. 

But if you answered one of those questions wrong, everything downstream is garbage. 


The real work in pricing is answering those 5 questions — clearly, consistently, and courageously in all rooms. 


This comes from 17 years of defending prices at all levels in all rooms. Its never easy to defend pricing when everyone can be better at pricing than you ! 

-------------
The goal of the PricingTribe community is to help you elevate your pricing effectiveness and bring like minded pricing professionals together.

It's not the CEO's responsibility to price. 

Just like its not their responsibility to create a product, or do marketing or take customer service calls. It's to support the creation of the best outcome. 

Too many people suggest CEO's role should be the final approver or should own pricing or team should roll up to CEO (good luck with that one). Maybe in niche cases, smaller companies. In most cases they won't have the bandwidth or the org structure to support it. 

CEO's role in pricing in opinion is to empower and to signal.  


Empowerment: 
To create the right atmosphere for pricing to thrive. Making sure product, finance, marketing and pricing are collaborating at the right phases in the right way. Making sure meaningful discussions are having, and right questions are getting asked. 

Even a simple questions like: 

- Has pricing seen this product ? 
- How will we communicate value ? 
- At what stage do we revaluate pricing ?
- What are the pricing KPI to monitor ? 
- Can product-finance-marketing bring aligned reco ? 

Those questions alone will arm teams with a lot of meaningful info and create space for dialogues. 

Signaling:
Second important part is "Signaling", internally and externally. 

If you watch closely, the best CEO's during annual and quarterly reports will communicate their pricing intent. What they intend to do on price. This allows them to signal where they are headed, and where they would like the customers to follow: 

External Simple signals like: 

- We are not going to compete on price. 
- We are going for aggressive market capture
- We are launching new value products
- Costs are rising, we may take price up

Those signals express pricing intent, to be read by the market and customers. It limits price wars often when executed correctly. Look at companies like Pepsi, Coke, Unilever, P&G, Ikea, McDonald's, etc and look up analyst transcripts. 

If you are looking to build pricing confidence, yes make it your mission to get alignment from CEO but don't make it your mission to have your roles roll up to CEO's. Well intentioned as it may be, you are better off being a better collaborator for the CEO. 

If you want to talk to other like minded pricing professionals on topics like this, the place to be 'PricingTribe Community'. Now slowly letting people in.

#Pricing Giving Wednesday Again !
Last time we made at least 8 connections. 
That's 7 more than my target. 

Help like this can be life changing. 

I still have an inbox full of people looking for new roles or candidates. 

You know where those roles exist. 

Some of you are hiring. 
Some of you have connections there.
Some of you have employee referrals.
Some of you have career advice. 

Here is a snippet what I have: 

- I-Hsuan  is hiring for a pricing analyst in US

- Umesh is looking for pricing candidates in India.

- Sahima is looking for 2 smart pricing specialists in UK

- Jonathan is hiring for a commercial finance and pricing analyst in Georgia US

- Other Jonathan is looking for a very smart SAAS Monetization Sr. manager

 

These roles have 100's of applicants. But I can help you get front of line. You just have to ask ! 


If you are looking for a role, tell me so I can make a connection. If you know of a role tell me, I have a inbox full of people looking for roles.  

Tell me openly here or privately in inbox. 


♻️ Repost it to your network
📧 Forward it to someone 
💾 Save it for the future. 

PS: Also, while you are here Steven Forth, and Mark Stiving and I are going on a webinar tomorrow to discuss the state of pricing in Q3. What happened ? What is happening to compute cost, what is happening with credit models, vibe coding...  

Join us or access recording. Link in comments later. 

-------------
Building PricingTribe. Founding members invite going out soon.

It was such an amazing day ! To walk the halls again with students who are currently going through the program, was a powerful reminder of the power of giving back to the very place that set us and me for success. If it wasn’t for Odette, I would have never started my career in pricing as a co-op and transformer it into something inpactful 17 years later. 

I wish this cohort of business students all the best for success in the program and in the career. My inbox and my network is always available.

It was an incredible full-circle moment as Karan Sood, an esteemed Odette MBA alumnus, returned to present to the current MBA cohort on Pricing Strategy! 

We are so thankful to Dave Bussière for arranging this visit and bringing Karan all the way from Toronto to share his expert knowledge on using pricing as a key lever for profit. Hearing directly from an alumnus who followed a path similar to ours is truly inspiring. Thank you, Karan, for investing your time in us!

#OdetteSchoolofBusiness #AlumniSuccess #PricingStrategy #BusinessInsights

#PricingTribe Community update. 
Behind the scenes.


Here is what goes behind the scenes of launching a community. So many things you learn were outside of my wheelhouse. 


- Creating the PricingTribe web front end

- Creating a robust backend to capture info

- Creating workflows to capture application

- Creating product offer, recreating it, and then again

- Creating all design elements from scratch

- Selecting a platform, only to scratch it

- Creating banners, layouts, visuals

- Creating meeting and event cadence

- Learning to use a community platform

- Selecting founding and beta members from 170+ applications

- Creating groups of people with similar goals. 

- Creating onboarding workflows etc...


List goes on and on... 


All so that members can have the best experience inside the community once they enter. Because I want to create a space that speaks to pricing professionals and built for them..  Community should revolve around the pricing professionals looking for transformation.. Its a place for them !


Founding members are getting the invites today. These members will help test out the process and systems for the rest of the members coming in soon in January. Everyone will be notified about application status soon. 


Ask me anything about the community..

-----------
Building PricingTribe.

#pricingtribe. How do you solve for this ?

In the end, the primary obstacle to deal success isn’t customer’s lack of appreciation for the “supplier’s value”; it’s customer’s inability to establish broad-based agreement on what they’re trying to solve.

Excerpt from ‘The Framemaking Sale’ by Brent Adamson and @karl schmidt .



Sometimes it’s not the value delivered, but more clarity on the customer side on what kind of value needs to be delivered.


————————
Building Pricingtribe.

Why is credit bases pricing confusing ?
Can Vibe coding really help pricing ? If how ? 
Compute cost is rising, so should your price ? 

Lots of questions. 

Luckily we have • Mark Stiving, Ph.D. . and Steven Forth  and this good looking man !!Available to answer today.


Last change to register for webinar/recording: 


We are covering the biggest shifts hitting pricing teams right now:


- Token and credit based pricing in AI
- Vibe coding
- The major pricing moves in Q3
• The rising cost of compute

If pricing feels like it is changing faster than ever, that is because it is.


This session gets you caught up in under an hour.

We go live today at 12 noon EST. 

Last chance to register:

https://lnkd.in/gVszQyuw

Alira Health

My expertise lies in pricing and access, with a strong focus on green messaging and health equity. If you're looking to navigate payer expectations, optimize your value communication, or integrate sustainability into your access strategy: let’s connect. I'm here to help.

At Alira Health, we’re on a mission to ensure every patient gets the treatment they need. We partner with healthcare companies across the full value chain: from clinical development to regulatory, real-world evidence, market access, and pricing.

Key Responsibilities:
- Develop and implement pricing and access strategies that prioritize health equity and sustainability.
- Navigate complex payer expectations and enhance value communication to stakeholders.
- Collaborate across the full healthcare value chain, from clinical development to market access.

Partner pricing, access and sustainability

EADA Business School

I teach business cases of market access, pricing and health equity in the MSc in Pharma & Biotech Management

Associate Professor

Ferrer

• Management of market access, pricing and patient advocacy teams globally.
• Disease areas: rare diseases, orphan drugs, cardio, pain, psychological disorders.

Corporate Director Market Access and Pricing

Almirall

Lead the launch of a strategic dermatological product

Senior Global Market Access and Pricing Manager

•	Lead of global pricing team, that includes all price coordinators in the market companies, regular preparation of meetings and internal communications

Operational Pricing Planning Manager

IMS Health

•	Worked in the initial design and preparation of IMS Pricing Insights tool: creation country pricing profile for each country (Spain, France, Italy, Germany, UK, Slovenia, USA, Brazil among others)
•	Understanding of internal IMS MIDAS pricing information and calculation of mark ups for each country, optimization of calculations
•	User testing of Pricing insights tool

Pricing Expert and HEOR Consultant

Cardinal Health

Formulation of special products.
As well as aseptic release of products

Formulation pharmacist

Superdrug Stores PLC, UK

* Supervise the well running following company policy of 11 pharmacies in the south region of England
* Coach Pharmacy Managers in issues relating difficult staff and leadership skills
* In charge of making internal audits

Pharmacy Manager and Group Pharmacy Manager

At Alira Health, I design pricing strategies that balance affordability, innovation, and environmental responsibility. From WHO Essential Drug List submissions to the Equity Pricing Framework (EPF), my work ensures that medicines reach the patients who need them without compromising sustainability or innovation.
If you're working to improve health equity, sustainability, or patient access, let’s connect!

Nerea Blanque Catalina 🌍

Wondering how to communicate access and pricing news amidst geopolitical chaos? 

You are not alone!

With multi-jurisdictional markets, evolving policies (hello Most‑Favoured‑Nation (MFN) pricing model, global benchmarking, AMNOG etc) the “everything aligned” script often gets rewritten.

3 take-aways for pricing & market access teams:
✅ Build in buffer time for unexpected policy/regulator inputs (especially in key markets).
✅ Ensure your global price-benchmarks account for domino effects when US or EU shifts ripple globally.
✅ Use real-time intel from payers/regulators in each region to identify emerging constraints (MFN, HTA, reference price changes) early.

If you’re on a global launch or pricing team: how are you handling the “you thought we were aligned… but then MFN/HTA/regulator steps in” moment? 

Would love to hear your experience!

♻️ Share it with your network knowledge deserve to travel.
👉 Follow Nerea Blanque Catalina 🌍for more thoughts on pricing, access, and sustainability

Partner Pricing, Access and Sustainability @ Alira Health | Navigating Payer Expectations, Health Equity

Never give up, especially when it’s about giving patients a voice! 

MUST READ

Since 2018, I have been a firm believer that patient involvement in Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is not optional: it’s essential. 

Patients bring lived experience that grounds our assessments in what truly matters.

Two years ago, we began an investigation to understand how patient involvement in HTA is being implemented around the world. 

Today, I’m proud to share that this work has grown to cover 50+ countries, bringing together diverse voices and insights into global practices.

This project was born from the passion and persistence of a team I deeply admire. Annabel de Maria, Marcos Puebla Sainz, Luca Trentin, and Luís Korrodi-Gregório: you each shaped this journey in your own way. Sonia Amaral, Abigail Asmah you were with us when we produced our enormous excel, at least you deserve a mention! Big thanks to all

Annabel, you were the heart and catalyst of it all,  your legacy lives on through this publication and through every patient-centered effort we continue.

I’ll admit, at one point, I almost gave up. Publishing is not for the faint-hearted. But my team carried on, and this is the biggest lesson learned: never give up in the publishing business. Persistence truly pays off.

I’m beyond proud of what we achieved together, and although we can’t celebrate this milestone with Annabel, I know she is smiling.

💚 Long live patient involvement at all stages, in all places.

You can check the publication online:
💡“A Comparative Analysis of Patient Participation in Health Technology Assessment Systems Worldwide: Trends and Practices,” via Frontiers in Public Health: https://lnkd.in/eg-nMAKg 

Do you think we need to repeat the study next year to see how the landscape has evolved?

♻️ Share it so it gets to a wider audience.
👋 Follow Nerea Blanque Catalina 🌍for more insights on pricing, access, and sustainability.

Patient Participation in HTA

Sustainability and profitability are not opposites;  they are interdependent.

For years, the conversation around sustainability has focused on costs rather than value creation. 

But what if pricing could be a strategic lever to drive both business performance and positive impact?

I’ll be exploring this topic at the Professional Pricing Society #PROFITABLE25 Conference in Barcelona where I’ll discuss how sustainable pricing strategies can align profit with purpose and why the time to act is now.

Sustainability is no longer a side initiative; it’s becoming a core driver of long-term value.

Will you join the conversation? 4th December, 15,30pm, Barcelona

♻️ Share it with your network knowledge deserve to travel.
👉 Follow Nerea Blanque Catalina 🌍for more thoughts on pricing, access, and sustainability

Last week we held our Annual Christmas event in HBA Barcelona!

It was great to meet a bunch of powerful women and men that want to change the world.

During the event we held a roundtable with the HBA Barcelona Steering committee where we discussed the impact of HBA in our lives. 

We heard inspiring reflections on the impact of HBA:
💬 “𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘏𝘉𝘈, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦” – Laura Requejo
💬 “𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘳. 𝘉𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦” – Myriam Bougo
💬 “𝘏𝘉𝘈 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳-𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘵” – Cecilia von Ahn Scheel

💡The message was clear: 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 are key to unlocking female talent and driving a more 𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞. Also it was highlighted the support from our family and partners through our journey.

This year, 𝐇𝐁𝐀 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐚 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭, strengthening networks, visibility, and mentorship across our community.

A huge thank-you to Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association, Novartis Europe for their support, PANDORA COMUNICACIÓ AUDIOVISUAL for capturing the evening, and all our 𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 for making these moments possible.

Wishing everyone a wonderful christmas season and here’s to 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟐6. ✨

Isabel Alarcon, MD | Marta Anton Coach PCC | Tabatha Bourgois | Dr. Ana Rita da Costa | Isabel De La Paz | Ester Cavallé Salvadó | Vera Fernandez Sulis | Dina Ferreira | Patricia Ferriot | Vanita Garani | María Inés Garzón Hernández | Clara González-Melgarejo | Virginia Gonzalez Sola | Anais Gonzalez Iglesias | Cristina Guerra Laurie | Ester Guiu | Ezgi Halatli | Cristina Guerra Laurie | Mar Masso | Jovi Mateo | Maria Clara Leal Nascimento Silva | Raquel Navarro-Prieto | Farzaneh Norouzi | Mercedes Prior | Alicia Rami, PMP, MBA | Rocío A. Reyes Gutiérrez | Helena Saigí Aguas | Claudia Serna Pujol | Jelena Stanisavljevic, Ph.D. | Laura Vidal Boixader | Joris Pezzini

Our industry moves fast and staying informed means learning from the best. 

Here are the LinkedIn voices I recommend keeping on your radar.

These experts consistently add value, insight, and clarity to a very complex ecosystem:
🔹 News & Industry Updates:
Follow Neil Grubert  for high-quality insights and timely updates on global market access and policy developments.
And Rachel Galloway that always puts a smile on my face with her Bridgerton style posts!  
🔹Country specific P&R news and insights: 
✅ Germany Pricing & Market Access:  If you work with AMNOG, benefit assessments, or German HTA, Anja Pownell is a must-follow.
✅ U.S. Pricing & Access: For clear, sharp perspectives on U.S. market access, follow Deborah Williams  always on point.
✅ Access in the middle east: Lavni Varyani is your expert of choice with her clear and concise guidelines.
✅ Access in Switzerland: I recently discovered Dr. Marcel Boller and I really like his posts, short and insightful.
🔹 Public Health:
Looking to stay engaged in public health topics?
Roberta Sarno, PhD Ertila Druga MD MBA PhD Dr. Sara Al Dallal, and Jordi Serrano Pons consistently share important reflections, innovations, and discussions.
🔹 HEOR Fundamentals:
For those wanting accessible and practical HEOR basics, Mirko von Hein is a great resource.
🔹 Generics & Broader Market Intel:
Dave Wallace and Gabriel Morelli offers strong, data-driven views on the generics space and the broader pharma landscape.
🔹 Patient Engagement:
Eduardo Perez-Guagnelli and his amazing designs where he explains why patient engagement is so important.
🔹 Sustainability:
Roberta Boscolo is a must follow for everyone please read all her posts to really understand what is really happening out there.
Elena Doms is my sustainability hero.
🔹 Insightful Articles & Reads
And of course, don’t miss Alira Health’s articles always rich in evidence, trends, and perspective.

If you want to enrich your 2026 feed with high-quality thinking, these are great people to start with.

Who else should we add to this list? Drop your recommendations below!

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I watched this speech some time ago and today I want to share it with you as I think about its content very often.

How could he convince me that smoking is good (only for a second)? OMG!

This powerful speech won the 2015 World Championship in Public Speaking.

Mohammed Qahtani, a Saudi Arabian engineer, captivated his audience with the power of words and the influence they can have. 

My pricing & access peers, remember this speech as the basis of your future communications. 

Choose your words wisely and intentionally. Any more learnings?

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𝗕𝗲𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 & 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗜𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱!

When we talk about industry events, we often focus on the presentations, insights, and data.

But the real magic? It happens behind the scenes.

This week, I had the pleasure of joining the "Pharma Pricing & Market Access Innovation Summit" by GlobalBSG. An intimate, high-value gathering of passionate market access top notch experts that came from across the world.

Behind the scenes:

• I finally met LinkedIn superstar Neil Grubert in person: a true inspiration in my daily work, our daily work I would say. Insightful, sharp, and kind.

• I attended trendy sessions on the Most-Favored-Nation (MFN) clauses and Market Access in the Middle East, with brilliant speakers such as Reg Waldeck Ayman Semaan Mohamed Abdelbaky, who brought regional realities to life through concrete examples.

• I had the honor to host two roundtables, where participants shared openly about pricing models, collaboration, and the future of Access. Thanks to Yvette Venable for your passionate contributions, Manuel Vazquez Roso Eric Litjens, MSc, PhD for being so generous with your knowledge and experience.

• Once again I had the chance to present about pricing and sustainability, as I do everywhere I go.

• Thanks to the intimate format of the event, conversations went far beyond the surface we exchanged ideas, voiced challenges, and even started shaping something new:

A real community on Access! A space to continue the dialogue, connect across roles and regions, and drive meaningful change together. Neil Grubert maybe you have something to say! 

My biggest takeaway (thanks to Iroda Jurabekova!):
Celebrate your department's wins: even the small ones.

Finishing an economic model? Celebration
Getting internal alignment. Another celebration!
Getting reimbursed in Austria? Celebrate again

These moments deserve recognition and drive visibility!

Huge thank you to Vic Egho and  for inviting me to chair the conference and for organizing such a seamless, inspiring, and human event.

Are you going to miss next year edition?

PS: even water was in line with health economisc concepts! 😂 

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GlobalBSG

Independent Global Market Access Consultant, Trainer and Writer

Head of Global Market Access at Bayer

Strategist in Market Access & Pricing. Enthusiast for Equity in Healthcare.

Market Access Lead - Gulf Countries & Pricing Lead Middle East

Senior Global Life Sciences Leader | Expert in Global Health Policy, Access and Patient Engagement and Advocacy | Public Health Professional

Global Market Access & Value Director

Biotech commercial executive and former scientist focussed on sustainable access | Fearless and all-round start-up team builder | Connecting people, pipelines and strategy

Executive Director, Global Market Access, Oncology at Boehringer Ingelheim

Operations Director at GlobalBSG

Pere Paré

I was in Japan last week when a client brought up my Market Access Playbook, unprompted!

He said: “I really liked it, I think everyone should read it”

It reminded me how universal our challenges are:

Market Access and Pricing teams don’t just crunch numbers, we shape strategy.

Yet we’re too often seen as technical, operational, even secondary.

The truth? They we are strategic, but we have a communication problem.

That’s why I built this Playbook: 10 strategic actions every access professional should master.

From building price corridors to align internal teams, to navigating IRP chaos (and yes, the parallel trade topic deserves its own post, coming soon I promise).

Swipe through the carousel to explore the actions.

Are you ready to demonstrate value inside and outside your company?

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Pricing and Access PLAYBOOK

Inspiration, energy, and purpose all in one room in Tokyo!

During my recent trip to Japan, I had the privilege of meeting the incredible team at Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association Japan Branch.

We shared an intense and insightful hour at the BMS Tokyo office, exchanging experiences and learning from their remarkable journey. 

Their “secret sauce”? A passionate community spirit that has fueled extraordinary growth: more than 450 members in less than a year!

To all my Japan-based connections: I highly encourage you to reach out to this amazing group of professionals who are driving equity and inclusion in the workplace. 

Their online cafés and in-person events are not to be missed!

HBA Japan team, you are truly inspiring! Hiroto KONNO, MBA, PMP® Sawori ImuraCathryn Jiang Hiroko Sakimoto Mayumi H. Shrinika A. Aiko Tomiyama Yuko I. I really appreciate your time! I hope to see you soon in one of our online speed networking or if you happen to be in Barcelona🌸

How do you think communities like this can continue to accelerate gender equity in healthcare and beyond?

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Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association

Associate Director, Head of GDP & PQC Japan - Bristol Myers Squibb

Pfizer Global Supply Japan Lead / ファイザー株式会社 取締役 執行役員 製造部門長 / ファイザー・ファーマ株式会社 代表取締役社長

Change and Communications Partner @ Takeda | Change Management, Communications

Strategic Program Management at Bristol Myers Squibb

Pharmacist

Data Digital and Technogy | Web Apps, Power Platform

MSD KK

Oncology Marketing

Could transparency backfire in global drug pricing?

As the U.S. launches the GENerous model, aiming to share net prices for medicines, many celebrate this as a step toward fairness and accountability in pharmaceutical spending. 

See more information on GENerous here: https://lnkd.in/de58heKa

However, I ask myself, what if transparency leads not to lower U.S. prices, but to higher prices elsewhere?

Evidence from the latest OECD study on medicine price sharing suggests a potential paradox:

When net prices become visible, manufacturers may align offers across markets, reducing their willingness to grant confidential rebates in smaller or lower-income countries.

The result could be “price convergence from below” where other countries’ prices rise to protect pricing strategies in the U.S., without real relief for American payers. 

Crazy right? In this case, pharma would be the big winner here and patients all over the world the main loosers.

This is the delicate balance between equity and efficiency in global health economics: transparency promotes accountability but may erode the flexibility needed for fair differential pricing.

I guess this is the beauty of our day to day jobs. But policymakers need to understand well what they are doing so they protect patient's interests.

As the GENerous model unfolds, it will test whether open price sharing can coexist with sustainable, equitable access worldwide or whether it risks exporting the U.S. pricing problem instead of solving it.

What do you think, should price transparency be further studied?

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OECD external reference pricing 2024

Cervical cancer prevention is key for women health across the globe.

It remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where screening implementation remains fragmented. 

This new study, provides a comparative assessment of national cervical screening programs across the region, highlighting structural strengths and policy gaps.
 
For a discussion of the results and expert conclusions, start reading, “Cervical Screening Systems in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: A Comparative Policy Evaluation”: Cervical cancer remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where screening implementation remains fragmented. A new study, featuring Alira Health expert @ Nerea Blanque Catalina as one of the authors, provides a comparative assessment of national cervical screening programs across the region, highlighting structural strengths and policy gaps.
 
For a discussion of the results and expert conclusions, start reading, “Cervical Screening Systems in Eastern Europe and Central Asia: A Comparative Policy Evaluation”: https://lnkd.in/dXt4AH3V
 
Thanks to the Authors: Silvia Ussai, MD PharmD, Teymur Seyidov, Nerea Blanqué Catalina, and Tamar Khomasuridze, on behalf of the UNFPA Regional Alliance for Cervical Cancer Prevention in EECA.

And you, have you done your anual screening yet?

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Cervical Cancer screening systems

It started with a simple question:
What happens to market access when we decarbonize clinical trials?

I asked this during our recent webinar in Spain and I expected a mix of views.

Instead, the answer was almost unanimous: sustainability is becoming a strategic advantage. And more for market access teams!

Yet, despite this confidence, many teams are still unsure how to turn intention into action.

The truth is, expectations around sustainability are rising fast. And those who weave it into their market access strategy aren’t just “keeping up”, they’re leading.

If you’re ready to turn sustainability into impact, let’s connect.

The webinar was co-organized with Anthesis Esp, and AECOC.

What If Drug Pricing Worked Like Airline Tickets?

Imagine a world where drug pricing ran like an airline booking system. A payer or a doctor logs into the portal PHARMAIRLINES.COM 

They enter the patient’s condition, choose when to start treatment, and see a menu of “flights”:
 💊 Medication A: $1,257 ; Tuesday at 3 p.m. via Poland (1 stop)
 💊 Medication B: $4,002  nonstop immediate boarding
 💊 Medication C: $980  off-peak fare, 8-month delay
Need home infusion? That’s a seat upgrade.
Want to change dosage? Change fee applies.
Many doctors want the medication? let's change the price. No one wants it? Let's adapt it.

The payer chooses the combination that fits budget, convenience, and coverage and use, all from a dynamic pricing engine that updates in real time, just like Skyscanner or Expedia.

I know....you are thinking what a “Black Mirror” take on Healthcare...It’s absurd and yet, disturbingly plausible.

Dynamic pricing already rules the skies, hotel rooms, and rideshares.
Why not drugs? We have the software.
What if treatment timing, manufacturing capacity, and patient volume started driving real-time drug pricing?
What if price negotiations were less rigid?

We talk a lot about “value-based pricing” and “market access innovation.” 
And I am tired of it. With AI at our fingertips, let's start to think differently, I feel we are in the middle ages.

Thanks Preeti Patel for the inspiration on this one...

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Feeling like you’re drowning in all the Pharma Policy and geopolitical waves lately?

You’re not alone, it’s a lot to keep up with!

Let’s make sense of the chaos (and maybe even have a laugh about it).

💬 Comment “FLOAT” below for a free 30-minute chat to talk through your biggest challenges, and figure out how to stay afloat together.

(Note: This offer is just for industry professionals, not consultants this time!) 

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Sustainability and pricing...what do they have in common?

I will talk about it LIFE! in the next PPS ProfitABLE conference in Barcelona at 3,30pm on the 4th of December. 

Are you going to miss it?

#profitABLE25

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What a year 2025 has been for pricing and market access, and it hasn’t even ended yet!

From evolving MFN-style policies to new tariff dynamics and accelerating AI capabilities, the landscape has shifted faster than many of us anticipated. 

And now, with the recent UK–US pricing and tariff deal, the ripple effects across global pricing strategies may be even more profound.

All of this leaves me wondering: what will 2026 bring?

More alignment? More disruption? A completely new framework?

I’d love to hear your perspective.

 👉 Which development has been the most transformative in 2025?
 (See poll below — and feel free to expand in the comments!)

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2025 has given us lots of surprises. Which development do you think will have the biggest long-term impact?

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