Pharmacoeconomic research partnerships should be attractive to industry, OTA's Wagner says.

Executive Summary

PHARMACOECONOMIC RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS -- WITH NO VETO FOR MARKETERS -- are in "pharmaceutical companies' best interests," Office of Technology Assessment Senior Associate Judith Wagner maintained in a presentation to the Biotechnology Industry Organization annual meeting May 24 in San Francisco. Drug companies will increasingly find it to their advantage to "help fund independent buyer-led studies of cost-effectiveness analyses," in light of recent FDA suggestions that pharmacoeconomic claims by manufacturers will likely require two adequate well-controlled trials, Wagner suggested.