Rhys Williams
Vice President - Integrative Evidence Generation, Health Economics & Global Medical Affairs BeOne Medicines
Rhys Williams is the Vice President of Integrative Evidence Generation and Health Economics, Global Medical Affairs (ex-China) at BeiGene. Previously, he was the Vice President, Health Economics and Outcomes Research at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals. Prior t that, Rhys was an Executive Director in Global Health Economics at Amgen, where he worked for thirteen years. He’s also worked at Aetna health plans, Pfizer, BMS, Janssen and Knoll.
Rhys is a native of the UK and received his BS (honors) degree in Statistics from Aberystwyth University, Wales. He has two Masters Degrees in Mathematics and Applied Statistics from Tulane University and a Doctoral degree in Epidemiology from Boston University. Rhys has authored over 60 peer-reviewed publications which have appeared in New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology and Archives of Internal Medicine, among others. He also serves as an ad hoc reviewer for JAMA, Stroke, Value in Health and Obesity Research.
Seminars
Across organizations, RWE is increasingly used to describe patient journeys, support exploratory analyses, or generate publications but its real influence on clinical decision‑making remains inconsistent. This roundtable focuses on the non‑technical barriers that prevent RWE from shaping trial design, safety strategy, and development priorities – including timing, study framing, internal trust, and cross‑functional alignment.
Networking Discussion Questions:
- At what point in the clinical development lifecycle does RWE currently have the greatest potential to influence decisions – and where is that opportunity most often missed?
- What distinguishes RWE that genuinely informs clinical decisions from RWE that remains descriptive or retrospective?
- How do timing and sequencing affect whether RWE is acted upon or sidelined by clinical teams?
- Where do breakdowns in trust or communication most often occur between clinical development, epidemiology, and RWE teams – and how are organizations overcoming them?
