Antonio will open DCLF with a broad perspective on the state of the drug channel and the forces shaping what comes next. The keynote will examine changing economics, emerging business models, consolidation, policy pressure, and evolving relationships across the pharmaceutical ecosystem—framing the major strategic questions facing industry leaders and setting the context for the conversations that follow. 

Not everything marketed as affordability actually lowers costs. This panel will challenge the gap between political messaging, business models, and economic reality by asking where savings are real, where costs are simply shifted, and who ultimately pays. The discussion will examine how affordability claims hold up when viewed across patients, employers, plans, manufacturers, and the health system as a whole. 

Federal policy is moving quickly—but the bigger story is how the market responds. This panel will examine how IRA implementation, Medicare pricing changes, Part D reform, MFN concepts, and other federal actions are influencing manufacturer strategy, channel economics, and stakeholder behavior. The discussion will focus on what these changes mean in practice and where the most significant downstream effects may emerge. 

Join John O’Brien for a candid conversation about where the drug channel is headed and how leaders are responding to mounting pressure around affordability, access, reimbursement, and distribution. Drawing on his perspective across government, managed care, and industry, the session will connect policy and regulatory change with real-world business decisions, examining how companies are adapting and where the next set of policy and market pressures may emerge.

This wide-ranging conversation will examine the changing drug channel, evolving business models, and the strategic choices facing industry leaders. AJ Loiacono will discuss how companies are adapting to new economic pressures, changing partnerships, and shifting expectations across the market. The fireside format will offer a candid perspective on leadership, market evolution, and the forces likely to matter most over the next several years. 

How does the investment community see the drug channel today? Leading healthcare analysts and investors will assess where they see growth, margin pressure, disruption, regulatory risk, and shifting value across manufacturers, wholesalers, PBMs, pharmacies, and other channel participants. The panel will bring an outside perspective to which business models appear most resilient and where the market sees the greatest uncertainty ahead.

Patients are accessing GLP-1 therapies through more pathways than ever. This panel will explore how traditional insurance, cash-pay options, manufacturer-direct models, employers, digital platforms, and other access channels are operating side by side. The discussion will consider how these models interact, what they mean for traditional channel relationships, and whether they could provide a blueprint for other therapeutic categories. 

After years of vertical integration, market consolidation, and evolving profit models, the forces reshaping pharmacy benefit management are moving from debate to market reality. 

In this keynote, Eric Percher looks past individual legislative and regulatory changes to the bigger question: how transparency, new PBM compensation models, employer behavior, and increasing competitive intensity will redistribute economics across the drug channel. Who captures value as traditional PBM revenue sources come under pressure? How will incumbents adapt, and can alternative models gain real share? The answers will shift the balance of power among manufacturers, payers, employers, pharmacies, and patients. 

340B is entering another period of significant change. This session will move beyond the familiar debate to examine how evolving rules, contracting models, data requirements, technology, and economic pressures are reshaping the way manufacturers, covered entities, and their partners operate. Panelists will explore where the program is headed and what its next phase could mean across the broader drug channel. 

What do manufacturers need from their channel partners today? Senior manufacturer leaders will discuss changing expectations across access, distribution, data, patient services, contracting, affordability, and commercialization. The session will also explore where the current model continues to create friction—and what manufacturers increasingly expect from the organizations they rely on to bring products to market.