ABSTRACT
Economic evaluations can be implemented to inform decisions about new technologies by balancing the outcomes and the costs of the new technology and are particularly applicable for examining the trade-offs inherent in implementing new technologies in the pharmaceutical industry. As innovation in science and engineering progresses, new technologies emerge, and their value influences in what manner and how quickly they are adopted. Economic analysis provides estimates of that value to support or challenge the integration of the new technology. Economic evaluation of the incorporation of pharmacogenomic strategies can provide incentive and guidance for the following:
This chapter focuses on the evaluation of the economic incentives for incorporating general pharmacogenomic strategies into drug development. However, the principles are equally applicable to the more specialized application of surrogate tissue profiling, as appropriate, in the drug development process. In this chapter, we first review pharmacoeonomics and its role in evaluating choices. We describe pharmacoeconomic evaluations of pharmacogenomic strategies in clinical practice as an illustration of that role. Finally, we construct a case for the economic advantages molecular profiling could bring to drug development.
