WEP Insights

Turning Access Programs into Strategic Assets

Author picture

Jen Banks, MA MA PMP

SVP, Head of Global Project Management

Jen is responsible for leading the Project Management team for our global Clinical Trials and Home Healthcare Solutions. She comes with 20 years experience and has previously held roles managing clinical research departments for sites, boutique vendors, and CROs. Jen has a wealth of experience and expertise leading teams and supporting with the preparation and implementation of comprehensive project plans, fiscal control efforts, process improvements, evidence-based decision-making, and outcomes assessments.

LinkedIn

The immediate goal of any access program is clear: get eligible patients timely access to treatment. At WEP, we strongly believe that in addition to serving patients, access programs can do so much more for a Sponsor as well. When access programs are thoughtfully designed and expertly run, they generate immense value and insight for Sponsors.  

 

Your Access Program Should Be Built To: 

  • Strengthen relationships with investigators, KOLs, and patient communities 
  • Capture real-world evidence that informs ongoing or future clinical development and medical strategy 
  • Provide early signals that guide country prioritization, supply planning, and payer discussions 
  • Demonstrate responsible access and governance to regulators and external stakeholders 

These insights and benefits are not a given. To achieve these, a Sponsor must find a strategic partner with expert strategy and operations teams that listen, adapt, and understand how to continuously improve and scale your program, over time. The magic happens when experienced teams of people translate Sponsor intent into day-to-day action that keeps pace with the nuances that define each individual access program. 

 

What Sponsors Should Expect From a Strategic Access Program Partner: 

 

1) Seamless hand-off from Sales to Operational teams 

Collaborative hand-off from Sales to Operations, with ongoing alignment, means no detail gets lost in translation and allows project delivery teams to progress with full clarity and confidence. Your vendor should provide one unified team, one continuous conversation, and outcomes that match exactly what was promised. WEP Clinical purposefully builds consistency into workflows. 

 

2) Dedicated, expert project management 

Access programs are context heavy: eligibility requirements, unique regulations and access requisites, ethics expectations & demands, and local site culture will vary by country and across the life of the access program. An expert PM team anticipates challenges, navigates complexities, and provides customized solutions, without creating unnecessary burden for sites or Sponsor teams.

 

3) Meaningful data, not just fields 

Beyond tracking requests and shipments, your partner should interpret patterns (e.g., request patterns, safety signals, geography-specific bottlenecks) and convert them into practical recommendations for clinical and medical teams. Data-driven decision-making and expert oversight keep a program performing optimally over time.  

 

4) Direct engagement with stakeholders 

Regular human-to-human conversations with HCPs, KOLs, advocacy groups, and regulators uncover friction early. These conversations can accelerate approvals, improve site and patient experiences, and strengthen future readiness. The human element must remain at the forefront when executing an access program. 

 

5) A governance model that balances speed and rigor

It is vital to set clear decision criteria and escalation paths and ensure with pragmatic documentation, to keep programs compliant and responsive. Risk-based oversight and pre-defined roles prevent decision paralysis.  

 

6) Continuous improvement 

The best partners treat an access program as a living system, reviewing what’s working, where value can be added, and sharing lessons learned with Sponsor teams. By setting measurable KPIs and running regular reviews, a vendor turns into a partner that translates insights obtained within the program into high-impact changes that compound over time. 
 
 

Summary

Access programs are a strategic asset: human-centered, adaptable, and insight rich. Choose a partner that will listen, tailor guidance to your context, and help you get the most value from your program over time.  

At WEP, we pride ourselves on our people-first approach. Our strong operational teams and project management-first delivery model is best-in-class. Our people are hired and trained for judgement, communication, and stakeholder engagement. We prioritize clarity, speed, and continuous improvement, so Sponsors can deliver timely treatment for patients and capture insights that advance their asset and inform future clinical development and commercialization efforts.