Pharmacoeconomics: From Theory to Practice (Drug Discovery Series)

The pharmaceutical industry is almost boundless in its ability to supply new drug therapies, but how does one decide which are the best medicines to use within restricted budgets? With particular emphasis on modeling, methodologies, data sources, and application to real-world dilemmas, Pharmacoeconomics: From Theory to Practice provides an introduction to the major concepts and principles of pharmacoeconomics and cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA).

As a running theme, the book explores the collaboration among members of the pharmaceutical industry, academia, and government in the development of the human papillomavirus vaccine to demonstrate the full range of ethical and moral issues, as well as overall public health and commercial concerns that are often involved in decisions entailing CEA. Readers will learn about the international use of pharmacoeconomics in drug regulation, drug approval, and pricing, and the book provides examples of pharmacoeconomic models used to support these purposes in government, the pharmaceutical industry, and healthcare settings.

In this era of finite budgets, healthcare rationing, medication shortages, and the global aging and burgeoning of populations, numerous stakeholders in the healthcare arena must understand the basic principles of pharmacoeconomics and how these may be correctly applied to facilitate drug development, drug approval, rationing, patient segmentation, disease management, and pricing model development. Focusing on how to save money, not by restricting access to necessary services, but by using available resources more efficiently and rationally, this volume arms decision makers with the tools they need to make wise choices in an area where the stakes are so high.

Daniel E. Levy, editor of the Drug Discovery Series, is the founder of DEL BioPharma, a consulting service for drug discovery programs. He also maintains a blog that explores organic chemistry.