Kara Tyler

About Kara Tyler

I am a Director of Value & Access - Cell Therapy at Kite Pharma, a leader in engineered T-cell immunotherapy for hematologic malignancies. With over 20 years of bio-pharmaceutical experience, I specialize in payer relations, market access, and reimbursement, ensuring optimal coverage and affordability for our innovative and life-saving products.Since 2017, I have successfully launched CAR T products across 5 indications in the US market, demonstrating my expertise and excellence in this emerging and complex field. I strategically manage and develop robust relationships with national and regional health plans, including Medicare and Medicaid, as well as key organizations and opinion leaders in the cell therapy landscape. I collaborate closely with cross-functional teams in sales, marketing, market access, and medical affairs to monitor and influence reimbursement trends, coverage policies, and contracting strategies. I also leverage my strong analytical, decision-making, and communication skills to address complex issues and opportunities in the US market access and reimbursement environment. Additionally, I mentored and empowered a team of six academic hospital and clinic sales representatives, who represented over $60 million in annual sales. My mission is to ensure optimal access and outcomes for our patients and stakeholders.

Experience

1. Director, Value & Access - Cell Therapy

   Kite Pharma

   Apr 2017 — Present · Seattle, WA, US

   In my capacity, I strategically represent the organization in engineered T-cell immunotherapy (CAR T), ensuring private-public payer coverage and reimbursement for products regionally & nationally. I efficiently cover, develop & manage robust relationships with national and regional health plans, including Medicare & Medicaid. I also forge proactive relationships with various organizations/KOLs, which includes assessing the payer landscape to understand potential coverage barriers for CAR T.As a Director, Payer Relations-Market Access/Reimbursement, I ensure awareness of Kite products and services by pre-launching the payer education plan. I maneuver account-level business plans and mitigate challenges that hinder access. I network with Medical Affairs and HEOR team to address clinical concerns from payers. At Kite I work with the US marketing teams to create access tools and resources for authorized treatment centers and health plans. I serve as the national lead for our company’s 3rd party logistics through Cardinal 3PL. I am actively involved with US and global launch team initiatives, providing feedback and strategic imperatives & tactics for launch preparedness. Another area of focus for me is developing and rolling out internal training for the field sales teams on Market Access initiatives. Besides that, I leverage an in-depth understanding of payer requirements for inpatient settings and the impact of payer policies on Kite products including participating in DC Fly in’s to educate state representatives on CAR T and patient access needs.With my key performance, I establish relationships with stakeholders within key institutions, Medicare CMDs, pharmacy directors, and state Medicaid directors. I provide education on payers and assist with any coverage questions in partnership with the reimbursement support team. Lastly, I employ best practices to successfully implement tactical and innovative market access plans within assigned regions of the team.

Education

• Seattle Pacific University

  Bachelor of Arts, Speech Communication

  1992

Skills

• Biologics
• Hospital Sales
• Strategic Planning
• Ob/Gyn
• Management
• Pharmaceutical Sales
• Specialty Pharma
• Staff Development
• Biotechnology
• Cardiology
• Healthcare Reimbursement
• Idns
• Rheumatology
• Product Launch
• Talent Management
• Institutional Sales
• Nephrology
• Psychiatry
• Hematology
• Hospitals
• Cancer
• Biopharmaceuticals
• Osteoporosis
• Endocrinology
• Dermatology
• Immunology
• Strategic Leadership
• Payors
• Pharmaceutical Industry
• Cardiovascular Disease
• Budget Monitoring
• Sales Operations
• Pulmonology
• Buy & Bill
• Sales Hiring
• Sales Management
• Market Analysis
• Sales
• Selling Skills
• Sales Presentations