Prime Therapeutics experts spotlight evolving oncology trends and the challenge of balancing innovation with cost and access | AMCP Annual 2026

At the AMCP Annual Meeting in Nashville, Abby Kim, Pharm.D., senior director of clinical strategy and oncology specialty solutions at Prime Therapeutics, and Sneha Sharma, Pharm.D., director of specialty clinical solutions at the same organization, are highlighting key trends shaping oncology management during their session, “Oncology in Focus: What’s Hot, What’s Next!”

Ahead of the presentation, the speakers outlined six fast-moving areas transforming oncology: precision medicine, liquid biopsy, pharmacogenomics, CAR T-cell therapy, clinical pathways and virtual navigation. Together, these developments reflect both scientific progress and ongoing challenges for managed care leaders tasked with balancing innovation, affordability and access.

Kim noted that while many of these therapies come with high upfront costs, they also offer meaningful clinical advantages that can shift long-term value calculations. Advances in targeted treatments and personalized approaches are improving efficacy while reducing toxicity for many patients, which could lower downstream costs tied to complications or ineffective care.

“The new therapies bring great innovation, and they also bring better efficacy and lower toxicity for many patients,” Kim said. “Although they might bring a high cost with initial approvals, we might make some of that up in terms of better outcomes for patients as well as lower toxicity that might need to be managed.”

This dynamic highlights a tension in oncology today: how to evaluate value beyond immediate price tags. Payers and providers are increasingly looking at total cost of care and long-term outcomes when making coverage and treatment decisions, particularly as specialty drug spending continues to rise, Kim said.

She added that many of the topics featured in the session are not new but are evolving rapidly. For instance, precision medicine has been a topic of discussion for decades, but its implementation across the healthcare system remains uneven.

As evidence grows and technologies mature, stakeholders are still working to ensure these innovations are effectively integrated into clinical practice and accessible to patients who may benefit most.

The most pertinent takeaway at the moment for leaders to stay ahead in oncology requires not only tracking emerging therapies but also refining the systems that deliver them, Kim encouraged. As science advances, so should the strategies that align clinical benefit with sustainable cost models and equitable patient access.