The Future of Health Economics

Book excerpt: The pharmaceutical industry faces a well-documented perfect storm: on the one hand, the patent cliff; the lack of new blockbusters and, on the other, economic pressure on pricing from markets with growing expectations and shrinking budgets. In the face of such pressure, traditional health economics models no longer seem appropriate and yet what do we have to replace them? The growing focus on 'value' and 'cost effectiveness' are evidence of new emerging thinking although, even here, with the shift from medicine as cure to medicine as palliative, as a treatment for chronic illness and with the growing emphasis on preventative approaches, the landscape is complex and challenging. The Future of Health Economics offers a window into some of the most influential emerging issues in pharmacoeconomics; issues such as risk-sharing and alternative pricing models or the potential impact of radical new approaches such as personalized medicine; as well as exploring the changing role of government and regulators. Ulf Staginnus and Olivier Ethgen, themselves two of the most well-regarded practitioners in this field, have brought together some leading-edge thinkers from industry and academia around the world to provide the industry, policy-makers, regulators, health practitioners and academics with the raw material for their future scenarios.