Medical brain notes 37

  Economic Considerations in Medical Biotechnology INTRODUCTION The biotechnology revolution has coincided with another revolution in health care: the emergence of finance and economics as major issues in the use and success of new medical technologies. Health care finance has become a major social issue in nearly every nation, and the evaluation and scrutiny of the pricing and value of new treatments has become an industry unto itself. The most tangible effect of this change is the establishment of the so-called “third hurdle” for new agents in many nations. Beyond the traditional requirements for demonstrating the effi-cacy and safety of new agents, some nations, and many private health care systems, now demand data on the economic costs and benefits of new medicines. Although currently required only in Canada (Blaker et al., 1994) and Australia (Drummond, 1992), meth-ods to extend similar prerequisites are being exam-ined by the governments of most developed nations. Many manage...

  THE VALUE OF A NEW MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY The task of determining the value of a new agent should fall somewhere within the purview of the marketing function of a firm. Although some compa-nies have established health care economic capabil-ities within the clinical research structure of their organizations, it is essential that the group that addresses the value of a new product does so from the perspective of the market and not of the company or the research team. This is important for two reasons. First, evaluating the product candidate from the perspective of the user, and not from the team that is developing it, can minimize the bias that is inherent in evaluating one’s own creations. Second, and most importantly, a market focus will move the evaluation away from the technical and scientifically interesting aspects of the product under evaluation and toward the real utility the product might bring to the medical care marketplace. Although the scientific, or purely clinical, aspec...

  AN OVERVIEW OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES A thorough economic analysis should be used to guide the clinical research protocol to ensure that the end points measured are commercially relevant and useful. The analysis should describe important ele-ments of the market to the firm, helping decision makers to understand the way decisions are made and providing guidance in affecting those decisions. Later, the results of economic analyses should inform and guide marketing and pricing decisions as the product is prepared for launch, as well as help customers to use the product efficiently and effectively. money through the various health care systems. This process should begin as soon as the likely indications for a new product have been identified and continue throughout the product’s development. The first step is to create basic economic models of the current treatment for the disorder(s) for which the product is likely to be indicated. This step will be used to provide b...