Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: Why Aren’t Patients Getting the Right Tests and Treatments? | Kirsten Axelsen - Senior Advisor, Charles River Associates & Steve Bloom - President and Chair, CLL Society
Cancer medicine is advancing rapidly. But are patients getting the tests and treatments they need to benefit from those advances?
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia, or CLL, is one of the most common forms of adult leukemia. And while advances in targeted therapies have transformed the treatment landscape, a critical question remains: Are patients actually getting access to the right tests, the right treatments, and the right care at the right time?
To explore this challenge, we’re joined by two guests bringing complementary perspectives on healthcare policy, biopharmaceutical strategy, and the patient experience.
Kirsten Axelsen is a Senior Advisor at Charles River Associates ( https://www.crai.com/our-people/kirsten-axelsen/ ), where she works at the intersection of healthcare policy, economics, and market access. She previously spent more than 17 years at Pfizer in a range of global policy and strategy leadership roles, and has also contributed to health policy research through the American Enterprise Institute and the Aspen Institute’s Health Innovators Fellowship. Her work focuses on how healthcare policy and market dynamics influence the development and availability of innovative medicines.
Steve Bloom is President and Chair of the CLL Society ( https://cllsociety.org/about-us/board-of-directors/ ), a patient-focused organization dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Steve also serves as Chief Business Officer at Werewolf Therapeutics and brings decades of experience in biopharmaceutical commercial strategy, including leadership roles at companies such as Boston Pharmaceuticals, Verastem, ZIOPHARM, and Eli Lilly. His perspective spans both the business of developing new therapies and the real-world challenges faced by patients navigating a cancer diagnosis.
Our conversation will focus on a national assessment of access to CLL care developed by Charles River Associates ( https://www.crai.com/insights-events/publications/when-innovation-outpaces-access-closing-the-gap-in-chronic-lymphocytic-leukemia-care/ ) in collaboration with blood cancer experts, with support from BeOne Medicines ( https://beonemedicines.com/ ). The report examines gaps in biomarker testing, insurance restrictions, treatment disparities, affordability, and the potential role of artificial intelligence in healthcare decision-making.
We’ll look at what the evidence tells us about these barriers, why molecular testing can be so important in guiding treatment decisions, and how we might better align insurance policies and clinical practice with the needs of patients. We’ll also explore the difficult balance between controlling healthcare costs and ensuring that patients can benefit from advances in cancer medicine.
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