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Asembia 2026 brought the specialty pharmacy world together and the conversations are still resonating. Pleio CEO Michael Oleksiw and Chief Experience Officer Abby Reynolds, PharmD sat down with the Pharmacy Podcast Network for their annual Asembia Rewind, alongside leaders from across the specialty ecosystem. Tune in to hear their perspective on the future of patient engagement and why human connection remains at the heart of what Pleio does.
Pharma has invested heavily in bringing therapy closer to patients. But from the vantage point of the pharmacy counter, something critical is missing. Pleio’s Chief Pharmacy Officer Mark Gregory writes for MM&M on the emotional barriers DTP programs consistently overlook, and what it takes to build patient support that actually works. Mark makes the case that as DTP models expand and the medication journey becomes increasingly decentralized, pharmacist insight into how patients experience and discontinue therapy should shape program design from the start.
In an interview with Pharmacy Times at Asembia’s AXS26 Summit, Michael Oleksiw, CEO of Pleio addressed the challenge of medication nonadherence in specialty therapy, where nearly half of all treatment failures are tied to adherence issues. Mechanical interventions like push notifications alone fall short; overcoming nonadherence in specialty therapies requires AI-driven insights paired with human-centered outreach to tackle the emotional and psychological barriers patients face. Oleksiw highlighted GLP-1 medications as a prime example, where stigma, dose escalation, and recurring emotional hurdles make specialty therapy adherence especially difficult to sustain.
In part two of his Pharmaceutical Commerce interview series, Pleio CEO Michael Oleksiw reframes pharma’s adherence problem as fundamentally human — not logistical. From the industry’s persistent “one-and-done” challenge to the underestimated role of loneliness in early discontinuation, Oleksiw makes the case that lasting behavior change requires meeting patients emotionally before overwhelming them with tools, reminders, or information they aren’t yet ready to act on.
In his Pharma Live byline, Pleio CEO Michael Oleksiw puts empathetic AI to the test starting with a direct question to ChatGPT. The answer cuts to the heart of what the industry needs to hear: AI can simulate empathy, but it can’t feel it. In healthcare, where trust, emotional presence, and human judgment determine whether patients stay on therapy, that distinction isn’t semantic, it’s consequential.
In part one of his two-part Pharmaceutical Commerce interview series, Pleio CEO Michael Oleksiw unpacks the hidden barriers to adherence that legacy patient support programs were never built to detect — and makes the case that AI-powered insights are now giving pharma companies a clearer, faster window into why patients actually stop. With oral GLP-1 therapies reshaping the market, the cost of not knowing is growing.
Michael Oleksiw, CEO of Pleio, discusses the hidden gap in GLP-1 patient support programs and how to boost GLP-1 adherence.
Pleio’s Chief Experience Officer Abby Reynolds, PharmD, joined First Report Managed Care to discuss how emotional readiness shapes outcomes in specialty drug management — and why even clinically appropriate therapies stall when patients aren’t supported before functional demands peak.
Peer-to-patient support can improve specialty medication adherence. A partnership between Pleio and Gentry Health Services shows how connecting patients with trained peer supporters helps address emotional barriers like fear, worry, and loneliness. The result: stronger onboarding, higher prescription fill rates, and more engaged patients.
Pleio’s Chief Pharmacy Officer Mark Gregory, RPh discusses how oral GLP-1 medication will impact the patient medication journey, highlighting how easier access may improve initiation but not necessarily adherence. He explores how fragmented support, knowledge gaps, and emotional barriers can undermine persistence, and why sustained outcomes will depend on coordinated guidance beyond the prescription.