US Players View Health/Pharmacoeconomic Studies

The use of health economic (HE) and pharmacoeconomic (PE) studies willgrow, led by their utilization in development of treatment protocols, according to managed care and hospital pharmacy directors, drug industry executives and academic researchers interviewed by IMS Pharma Strategy Group in collaboration with IMS America.

On average, the industry executives told the survey, their firms had performed or sponsored nearly 20 studies in the last two years. The aims of the studies were: publication in a journal, 74%; use in product promotion/ positioning, 69%; pricing, 62%; in-house information, 48%; decisions for clinical development, 19%; and prescription to over-the-counter switch decisions, 9%. A quarter of the executives felt PE/HE studies had no effect on their customers' drug use decisions.

Most studies were done during Phases II or IV, so the greatest impact on decision-making was in marketing departments; 88% of executives claimed either "significant" or "some" effect of PE studies on marketing decisions, compared to 55% for impact on drug development decisions. Most firms now have an in-house HE function, but it is not yet seen uniformly as part of an integrated process linking R&D with marketing and sales communications with customers, says IMS.