davemcconkey-tokms

Why I, Pharma Executive David McConkey (Windsor & Oxford), Started Sharing My Insights Online

Putting your name on public reflections about pricing, access, and policy can feel uncomfortable. Yet the more time I spend in oncology commercialisation, the more I believe that senior leaders have a responsibility to share what we are learning.

I am David McConkey, currently Europe Region VP of Commercialisation in oncology, with career chapters linked to both Windsor and Oxford. I started this blog because the conversations happening behind closed doors — about Joint Clinical Assessments, MFN rules, HTA changes, local payer issues, parallel trade, and price management — are too important to stay private.

Complexity demands collective intelligence

No single company, HTA body, or payer has all the answers:

• JCA is still evolving, with real‑world implications for timelines and evidence needs.
• MFN rules and reference pricing can have unintended consequences for smaller markets.
• Local payers face genuine budget pressures yet want to offer patients cutting‑edge oncology care.

By sharing experiences — successes and missteps — we can collectively build a more realistic and constructive approach to oncology access in Europe.

What I plan to write about

This blog will focus on practical reflections for peer professionals, not public relations. Topics will include:

• How to design oncology evidence plans that work for regulators, JCA, and HTA bodies.
• Building price strategies that acknowledge MFN, parallel trade, and political realities.
• Working with local payers to create sustainable access agreements.
• Leading teams through uncertainty and constant policy change.
• The role of hubs like Windsor and Oxford in shaping our industry’s response.

I will avoid product‑specific promotion and focus instead on principles, frameworks, and real‑world observations.

How Windsor and Oxford shape my perspective

My time linked to Windsor grounded me in the operational reality of commercial teams and local payer interactions. The Oxford chapter connected me with the ecosystem where evidence, policy, and economics intersect.

Together, these experiences have convinced me that:

• We cannot treat pricing and access as a late‑stage “market access task”.
• We must be honest about trade‑offs between speed, certainty, and affordability.
• We need to see ourselves as partners in system design, not just advocates for our brands.

An invitation to peers

This blog is written for peers: people in pharmaceutical companies, HTA bodies, payers, and policy roles who wrestle with the same dilemmas. I do not claim to have perfect answers as David McConkey Windsor or Oxford, only a commitment to serious, good‑faith engagement with the challenges we face.

I welcome challenge, alternative perspectives, and debate — provided we keep patients and system sustainability at the centre. If we do that, I believe we can make genuine progress in how Europe brings oncology innovation to those who need it most.