Industry Chiefs Slammed Over Pharmacoeconomics

Average annual numbers of pharmacoeconomics studies conduc-ted in the drug industry have risen from under five per company in 1991 to 24 in 1994, according to a new study, Health Economics In Europe, published by IMS company Pharma Strategy Group Ltd.

The most common studies are Cost Advantage/Cost Effectiveness, Burden of Disease and Quality of Life, while the most frequently studied illnesses are Alzheimer's Disease, cancer, pulmonary disease and central nervous system conditions. However, less than 30% of companies conduct any economic evaluation in Phases I and II of clinical development of their new products.

Looking at over 81 companies operating in Europe, PSG found that the major countries in which a company operates affects its use of pharmacoeconomics. Particularly active are firms for whom the UK, with its sensitive, very decentralized market, is important, as are Swiss and US-based groups. The germans, in whose home market there was until recently total price freedom and a lack of price sensitivity, are less pro-active, as are makers of products with only regional or national importance.