A wave of biotechs is making the milestone move from drug developer to drug marketer, but investors are less interested than ever in sticking around for the potential long-term rewards.

The biopharma industry is facing a paradigm shift in which pivotal trials, which traditionally address regulatory requirements, must also supply payors with clinically meaningful data - or the industry will continue to struggle with market access and disappointed expectations. Easton Associates foresees a two-step process emerging to address payors' needs.

With the worldwide market for novel oral anti-coagulants Pradaxa, Xarelto, and apixiban pegged at as much as $10 billion, how these drugs fare with physicians - and, importantly, payors - provides a case study for future big drug launches in an era where health care costs are a key consideration.