Episode 128: Enabling Pharmaceutical Innovation with Mike Rea from IDEA Pharma
March 16, 201729:11

Episode 128: Enabling Pharmaceutical Innovation with Mike Rea from IDEA Pharma

Mike Rea has worked in global pharma strategy for over 25 years, working with the world’s top 30 pharmaceutical companies. Regarded as an industry thought leader in innovation, Mike helped lead the strategic direction of over 100 pharmaceutical brands, and created the industry standard annual Productive Innovation Index, a ranking of top 30 pharma by their ability to launch innovation.

Mike’s passion for industry change has inspired those around him, and IDEA Pharma’s clients, to think differently, to challenge the status quo and achieve strategic excellence. Under Mike’s guidance, IDEA has supported over 3 in 4 of ‘blockbuster contenders’ in industry pipelines (cited by FiercePharma), positioned the top 2 launches of 2015, and over half of the 50 fastest growing drugs in the 2010-15 window.

Individually, Mike has been:

  • Named as one of the 100 Most Inspiring People in Healthcare in 2011, 2013 and 2015, and was presented the Red Jacket Lifetime Achievement award in 2016 (PharmaVoice)

  • Voted one of Top 10 Innovators in Pharma (PharmaPhorum)

  • Acknowledged as the industry’s leading expert in early-phase Positioning, and has successfully positioned some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical products

  • Is leading the development of an industry Code of Ethics

Outside work, Mike owns an independent record label (Medical Records), organises the street food/ food truck festival MXMK, and cycles really slowly…


00:00 Using ‘Innovation’ incorrectly.
01:45 Why the textbook definition of Innovation matters within Healthcare.
02:30 “No Medicine is less useful than one that doesn’t make it to Patients.”
03:00 True Pharma Innovations that Mike is most excited about.
04:35 Mike explains what Med-Tech Devices are.
07:00 How EEGs are improving Healthcare.
08:30 Explaining ‘Electroceuticals’.
09:20 Explaining ‘Interventional AI’.
12:00 Finding funding and looking at profit realistically within Pharma Innovation.
16:20 “Creating Value based on other means.”
18:00 “There are so many different ways we could begin to think of different business relationships with our customers.”
21:45 How Payers fit into Care Pathways.
24:00 Why Pharma should be thinking about Innovation.
29:00 “For every assest is there a faster way to do this? Is there a bigger way to do this?”
31:00 You can find out more information at ideapharma.com or @ideapharma on twitter.

healthcare,health,pharma,marketing,innovation,idea pharma,pharmaceutical innovation,
|

Episode Support Provided By

Special Thanks to Our 2026 Sustaining Monthly Donors

Kimberly Carleson, Dylan Yahn, Benjamin Light, Matt McQuideAnn Kempski, Spencer Allen, Scott TromanhauserMarilyn Bartlett, 
Steven Elkins, Matthew Bunte, and Lori Smith.

Recent Episodes

EP513: Revisiting Cunning Anticompetitive Hospital Contracts, With Brennan Bilberry

EP513: Revisiting Cunning Anticompetitive Hospital Contracts, With Brennan Bilberry

Listen on Your Favorite App If you are a large employer, union funds broker, fiduciary, or anyone responsible for a health plan that spends half of its dollars on hospital care (which most do), or if you have anything to do with policy or enforcement of policy, yeah … listen this week and next week....

EP512: 3 Kinds of Broker/EBC Rent-Seeking Payment Models—A Lawyer’s Perspective, With Doug Aldeen

EP512: 3 Kinds of Broker/EBC Rent-Seeking Payment Models—A Lawyer’s Perspective, With Doug Aldeen

Listen on Your Favorite App I wanted to talk to a lawyer ’cause, yeah, lawyers are the ones that see stuff that falls the whole way down to the level of legal action. But I wanted to find out what are the main categories of things that wind up in legal land when it comes to broker or EBC (employee b...

EP511: The Tension When Clinical Teams Take On Risk for Policymakers and Others Looking to Rustle Up Future Perverse Incentives, With Dr. Siva and Monica Lypson, MD, MHPE
Relentless Health ValueMay 14, 2026
511
29:3727.1 MB

EP511: The Tension When Clinical Teams Take On Risk for Policymakers and Others Looking to Rustle Up Future Perverse Incentives, With Dr. Siva and Monica Lypson, MD, MHPE

Listen on Your Favorite App Last week, we talked Medicare Advantage with Betsy Seals ( EP510 ), and we talked about finding members who a plan can serve well. This makes sense because Medicare Advantage is a capitated program. In other words, Medicare Advantage plans get paid by CMS a per member per...

EP510: The Impact on You of Medicare Advantage Goings-on (2026 Edition), With Betsy Seals
Relentless Health ValueMay 07, 2026
510
35:3032.5 MB

EP510: The Impact on You of Medicare Advantage Goings-on (2026 Edition), With Betsy Seals

Listen on Your Favorite App I came up with at least one way to tell the difference between making a fair profit and profiteering. If someone makes more money when the patients or members they serve are worse off, yeah, call that profiteering. For a full transcript of this episode, click here . If yo...

EP509: The 7.7% Wake-Up Call: A Roadmap to Align Finance Teams With Non-complacent Benefit Design, With Patrick Nelli
Relentless Health ValueApril 30, 2026
509
37:4834.6 MB

EP509: The 7.7% Wake-Up Call: A Roadmap to Align Finance Teams With Non-complacent Benefit Design, With Patrick Nelli

Listen on Your Favorite App Sarah Monroe: Hi. This is Sarah Monroe in Chicago, and I'm a benefits procurement leader. And I'm curious why you think so few executives take proactive bold action in health benefits strategy given the magnitude of opportunity. Stacey: Isn't that a great question? For a ...

EP508: Why Don't More Self-insured CEOs Take Bold Action in Health Benefits Strategy? With Lee Lewis
Relentless Health ValueApril 23, 2026
508
44:0240.31 MB

EP508: Why Don't More Self-insured CEOs Take Bold Action in Health Benefits Strategy? With Lee Lewis

Listen on Your Favorite App This episode is the very first episode that we have done that is an AMA—an Ask Me Anything—and here is our very first question. Sarah Monroe: Hi. This is Sarah Monroe in Chicago, and I'm a benefits procurement leader. And I'm curious why you think so few executives take p...

EP507: 4 Core Concepts to Buy or Deliver the Highest-Value Healthcare—A Review
Relentless Health ValueApril 16, 2026
507
33:5831.09 MB

EP507: 4 Core Concepts to Buy or Deliver the Highest-Value Healthcare—A Review

Listen on Your Favorite App Look, we wonks, meaning you and me, you're listening to this, so I am on to you. But we wonks in the Relentless Tribe, we move like lightning on Relentless Health Value. We tend to cover lots of ground pretty fast. So, sometimes I like to, with great intention, sum up wha...

Listen and Follow

Sponsored by Aventria Health Group
©2026 BD Bridges LLC. All Rights Reserved.