Overview
Get a comprehensive explanation of the key economic concepts on how the pharmaceutical market functions
The pharmaceutical industry has come under intense public scrutiny for the perception of product prices being too high and for concerns about research and development spending. Pharmaceutical Economics and Public Policy carefully explains the fundamentals of pharmaceutical economics while examining spending, costs, rates of return, and policies affecting the industry. This text provides a comprehensive economic analysis of the most important dimensions of the pharmaceutical market with easy-to-understand analysis of the implications of public policy. Key economic concepts necessary for understanding how the pharmaceutical market functions are clearly explained in detail.
Though it is a manufacturing industry, the pharmaceutical industry has several economic aspects that make it fundamentally different from any other. Pharmaceutical Economics and Public Policy takes these sometimes confusing and difficult economic aspects within this unique industry and makes them understandable. The book is carefully referenced and includes numerous figures and tables to clearly present data.
Topics in Pharmaceutical Economics and Public Policy include:
- policymaking—self-interest vs. public interest
- a pharmaceutical market overview
- empirical data on cost effectiveness of pharmaceutical use
- the economics and politics of the regulatory process
- the economics of patent policies
- pharmaceutical cost structure
- why price discrimination occurs in patented pharmaceuticals
- governmental price controls
- R&D expenditures
- sales and marketing expenditures
- rates of profitability in the pharmaceutical industry
- mergers and acquisitions and the connection to higher risk levels
- the future of the pharmaceutical industry
Pharmaceutical Economics and Public Policy is an invaluable resource for educators, graduate students, policymakers, legislators, policy analysts, government agencies, and trade associations involved with pharmaceuticals.
Editorials
From The Critics
Reviewer:Patrick J. McDonnell, PharmD(Temple University School of Pharmacy)Description:This book introduces students or informed laypersons to some of the basic tenets of pharmaceutical manufacturing/business and economics, and how they drive changes in public policy in the U.S.
Purpose:The purpose is to provide an overview of, and insights into, the interplay of economics and the drug industry. This economic interplay is broken down by chapters highlighting government policy-making regarding pharmacoeconomics, the regulatory process and politics of pharmaceuticals, cost structure specifics for drugs, price controls for the market and interplay with government programs, sales and marketing, and the future of the pharmaceutical industry. The book certainly covers these objectives.
Audience:The target audience can be students in healthcare studying pharmacoeconomics or laypersons (with or without a political background) who have an interest in this topic. The author has been a professor of economics, and has done extensive consulting work and research in this field.
Features:The book covers some basic economic principles and applies them to the field of pharmacoeconomics. It also highlights the interplay between public policy and pharmacoeconomics. In addition, it clarifies what goes into the economics of drug development and details prospects for the future of the industry. The book is excellent at making very complex topics understandable to readers with minimal background in economics. Tables and graphs certainly highlight these concepts also.
Assessment:This is a complete overview ofpharmacoeconomics, with an emphasis on the influence of public policy making. Written in language that is understandable to healthcare students or informed laypersons, this book is an excellent reference in this important area of healthcare.