AESARA Marks a Decade of Disruption, Charting a New Course for Global Health Access

CHAPEL HILL, NC – April 08, 2026 – As Value & Access agency AESARA marks its tenth anniversary, the milestone represents more than a decade of business. It signifies a period of profound change in the global biopharmaceutical industry, where the company has established itself not just as a consultancy, but as a strategic force challenging conventional approaches to how innovative medicines reach patients.

Founded in 2016, the firm has navigated a tumultuous healthcare landscape, growing from a focused startup into a trusted partner for many of the world's largest pharmaceutical organizations. Now, as it enters its second decade, AESARA is leveraging its hard-won influence to tackle some of the most complex challenges in global health, from rare diseases to the application of artificial intelligence in demonstrating value.

A Different Kind of Agency

AESARA was born from a specific vision. Founder and Chief Executive Officer Sissi Pham sought to create a company staffed by professionals who had direct, in-house experience within the pharmaceutical industry. The goal was to move beyond traditional advisory roles and become a true strategic partner that understood the internal pressures and realities of its clients.

“Ten years ago, I took a leap: building a company led by people who’ve lived inside pharma, not just advised from the outside. I never anticipated we’d be where we are today,” said Pham in a recent announcement. “We started with a focused vision in HEOR and market access, and we’ve evolved into something much bigger: a brand that industry leaders recognize and trust as a true strategic partner.”

The company's growth metrics underscore this success. With a team of over 50 professionals spread across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, AESARA has worked with more than 120 clients, supported over 60 product launches, and provided strategic guidance across more than 25 therapeutic areas. This growth is built on a foundation of diversity; as a certified woman- and minority-owned business, the agency brings a unique perspective to an industry striving for greater inclusion.

Paving the Way with Real-World Evidence

Perhaps nothing illustrates AESARA’s industry influence more clearly than its leadership on the upcoming CFL-SASS collaborative. In an era defined by intense pricing pressures, exemplified by policies like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in the United States, payers and health systems are demanding more than just clinical trial data. They require robust real-world evidence (RWE) to justify the value and cost of new therapies.

The CFL-SASS collaborative, which AESARA is spearheading, is an industry-wide initiative to create a roadmap for the use of RWE in pharmaceutical promotion. The project’s weight is evident in its list of supporters: 15 major pharmaceutical companies, alongside influential organizations like ISPOR (International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research) and the National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC). This coalition demonstrates the deep trust the agency has cultivated.

Rob Abbott, Chief Executive Officer of ISPOR, lauded the partnership. "AESARA has been ISPOR's trusted advisor, modeling agility and creativity while always being mindful of the operational and competitive space in which we operate," he stated. "As a leader shaping health policy worldwide, their solutions are pressure-tested in real-world contexts, which helps speed effective implementation. I also very much appreciate their digital-forward positioning, which helps map out realistic, grounded alternative paths ahead. As the industry navigates the next decade, that combination of rigor and vision is exactly what's needed.”

The forthcoming report is poised to become a critical guidepost, potentially reshaping industry standards and regulatory approaches for how the value of innovation is communicated and substantiated.

Tackling Healthcare's Toughest Challenges

With a decade of experience, AESARA is now directing its focus toward the most challenging frontiers of market access. The company recently established Centers of Excellence in rare diseases and oncology, two areas where the high cost of therapies and significant barriers to access create immense hurdles for patients and manufacturers alike.

In rare diseases, where some treatments can exceed one million dollars per year, the challenges are particularly acute. The Asia-Pacific region, a key area for AESARA's expansion, is home to over 258 million people affected by rare conditions, yet faces systemic issues including a lack of diagnostic awareness, specialized care, and coherent regulatory pathways for medication access. By building expertise in this niche, AESARA is positioning itself to help navigate these complex and culturally varied markets.

This forward-looking strategy reflects a core belief within the company that its work is far from complete. “What excites me most is what’s ahead,” Pham commented. “We’ve built real trust through our client work and by leading landmark initiatives like the upcoming CFL-SASS collaborative that nobody else stepped up to do. Now we’re channeling that into deepening our impact in rare diseases, oncology, and Asia, and exploring how our capabilities can serve government and health system partners beyond pharma. At our 10th year, I don’t feel like we’ve arrived, we’re just getting started.”

Innovation Fueled by Purpose and Technology

AESARA's forward momentum is also powered by a commitment to technological innovation. In a strategic move in late 2024, the company spun off its digital business into a new entity, ARYSANA, which is focused on developing AI-powered software to streamline evidence generation and dissemination for the biopharma industry. This initiative, with Pham also at its helm, signals a proactive embrace of digital transformation, moving beyond consultancy to create the tools that will define the future of market access.

This drive for innovation is matched by a deep sense of purpose, embodied by the AESARA Foundation. Established alongside the company in 2016, the foundation is a direct expression of the firm's ethos to drive social change. Influenced by Pham’s personal history as a refugee, the foundation invests 100% of its donations in sustainable social impact projects, from disaster relief in Puerto Rico to supporting displaced families from Ukraine. It serves as a constant reminder of the company's ultimate goal: to impact healthcare decision-making and improve people's lives.

As AESARA moves into its second decade, it does so with a unique combination of established industry trust, a clear-eyed focus on the world's most difficult health access problems, and a commitment to both technological and social progress. The upcoming public release of the CFL-SASS roadmap will be its next major contribution, further cementing its role not just as an advisor, but as a key architect of the future of healthcare value.