Takeaways from ISPOR 2026: The Next Phase of HEOR Strategy, Evidence-Generation Planning, and Value Demonstration

From Evidence Generation to Evidence Strategy

This year's meeting highlighted a field moving beyond a narrow focus on evidence generation, toward a broader expectation of evidence strategy. Real-world evidence (RWE) continues to be important, but the conversation has matured. The question is now whether organizations can produce evidence that is sufficiently credible, timely, and decision-oriented to influence payers, health technology assessment (HTA) bodies, clinicians, and policymakers in a more demanding environment. In parallel, patient-centered evidence has become more materially relevant to access and value discussions, reflecting a broader expectation that evidence should capture not only clinical or economic impact, but lived experience and practical relevance. At the same time, AI has moved closer to operational reality. The more serious discussions were not about novelty, but about where AI can improve the speed and efficiency of evidence work without undermining rigor. Taken together, these themes point to a broader reframing of HEOR: not simply as a generator of outputs, but as a strategic discipline that must shape decisions across the product lifecycle.

A Higher Bar for Market Access and Value Demonstration

For manufacturers, this shift raises the bar on how value must be planned, not just communicated. Evidence plans can no longer be built as isolated HEOR workstreams that sit adjacent to access or pricing strategy. They increasingly need to anticipate what different decision-makers will require; where evidence gaps are most likely to create friction; and how clinical, economic, and patient-centered narratives will need to come together under greater scrutiny. That has implications not only for launch readiness, but for organizational design. Companies that continue to treat HEOR as a downstream support function may find themselves less equipped to respond to payer demands, policy shifts, and affordability debates that now emerge earlier and with greater force.

From the payer and HTA perspective, the implications are equally significant. The expectation is no longer evidence that merely supports a clinical story, but rather evidence that helps clarify tradeoffs across outcomes, affordability, implementation, and relevance to real-world practice. This is part of why transparency, study quality, and patient relevance are becoming more important at the same time that pricing pressure is intensifying. Value assessment is becoming more dynamic, and organizations on all sides of the market are being pushed toward a more integrated view of what credible evidence must do.

The Strategic Takeaway

The most important lesson from ISPOR 2026 may be that advantage will not come from generating more evidence in a general sense. It will come from generating evidence that is aligned to the questions that now matter most: what value looks like in practice, how it will be judged under growing constraints, and whether organizations are prepared to connect evidence generation to real strategic decisions. In that sense, the future of HEOR is likely to be defined less by volume of output and more by clarity of purpose, operational integration, and the ability to produce decision-relevant insight at the pace the market now demands.

The Organizational Implication

Perhaps the most important implication is that HEOR can no longer operate as a function that engages after development, pricing, or access strategies have largely been established. The organizations best positioned for success will be those that integrate evidence planning earlier and more consistently across clinical development, market access, medical affairs, and commercial strategy. Across many discussions at ISPOR 2026, there was a growing recognition that stakeholders are demanding not only stronger evidence, but evidence that is more actionable, transparent, and relevant to real-world decision-making. As healthcare systems face increasing pressure to demonstrate value, manage affordability, and support patient-centered care, the ability to connect evidence generation with implementation and access strategy may become a defining competitive advantage.

What This Means Moving Forward

At The HWP Group, we see growing demand for strategies that extend beyond evidence generation. As access, affordability, operational complexity, and stakeholder expectations become increasingly interconnected, success will depend on an organization's ability to translate evidence into actions that support real-world adoption, implementation, and patient outcomes.

ISPOR 2026 reinforced that the future of HEOR will not be defined by the volume of evidence produced, but by the ability to generate decision-grade evidence, integrate it across functions, and translate it into meaningful decisions that improve access, demonstrate value, and ultimately impact care.

If these themes resonate at your organization, we'd welcome the opportunity to continue the conversation.

Reported by The HWP Group's Phoenix Riley, PharmD, MSc