Book Description

The pharmaceutical industry is praised as a world leader in high technology innovation and the creator of products that increase both longevity and quality of life for people throughout the world. At the same time, the industry is also criticized for its marketing and pricing practices and for its apparent anticompetitive responses to generic competition. Even its research and development priorities are criticized as being too closely driven by the goal of maximizing shareholder value, rather than the health of the public. Unfortunately, many of the critics of the industry fail to understand the complexities of the industry and its role in the nations healthcare system. This book uses the tools of economic analysis to explore the conflicting priorities and aims of the pharmaceutical industry, from both an American and worldwide perspective. This is the second edition of a uniquely comprehensive and balanced discussion of pharmaceutical policy issues. All the chapters of the former edition have been fully re-written and extensively updated. In addition, the book includes six new chapters on emerging topics such as the broadened role of FDA regulations and the increasing diversity of the industry. An entire chapter is devoted to the biotechnology industry and one to alternative medicines, often called "nutraceuticals." Another new chapter discusses segments of the industry that specialize in particular activities including generic drugs and drug delivery systems. The recent controversial expansion of Medicare to cover outpatient drugs is discussed in depth. The introduction is also updated to address the volatile pace of pharmaceutical innovation and how the pharmaceutical industry has responded to the emergence of managed care.

Book Info

Univ. of California, Los Angeles. Analysis of the pharmaceutical industry with suggestions for regulatory approaches that will serve the industry and its customers. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

Regrettably, out of date..., March 7, 2004

By Dr. van der Linden (Williamstown, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy (Hardcover)

---

...since its publication in 1997, for during the interval we've had (among other developments):

(1) The Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act (FDAMA '97),

(2) The promulgation of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) Code on Interactions with Healthcare Professionals (2002), and

(3) The federal Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) formally weighing in with their final "anti-kickback" guidance from the Office of their Inspector General (OIG), incidentally shutting the door between pharmaceuticals marketing and the drug manufacturers' "support" of continuing medical education (CME) on April 28, 2003.

(4) New concerns regarding drug safety issues (both pre- and post-marketing) have been raised by way of the COX-2 NSAID crisis, particularly by Merck's defalcations in the suppression of adverse events data in the 2000 publication of their VIGOR trial results (see Waxman's editorial in *The New England Journal of Medicine*, June 23, 2005;352[25]:2576-2578), and have invoked structural and procedural changes in the FDA's Office of New Drugs (OND) the end of which is not yet in sight.

(5) Medicare Part "D" has gone into effect, with NICE long-term implications for future impact upon the pharmaceutical industry in these United States.

Things have *changed,* folks. There's ten years' worth of critically important regulatory and pharmacoeconomic changes that neither the author nor the rest of the industry could have taken into consideration back when the galleys of this book were returned to the publisher. To the best of my knowledge, there is still no other source of information on the subject as ambitious (and as competently written) as is Dr. Schweitzer's work. Both author and publisher must certainly be aware of the fact that there is a need (and a definite market) for a new edition.

--- Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

most comprehensive book on the Pharmaceutical market, August 26, 2000

By P. Caetano "pcaetano" (Maineville, OH United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy (Hardcover)

I believe the book is useful for everyone in The Pharmaceutical Industry. It will be useful for reps, higher management, physicians, technicians, scientists, product and regulatory affairs managers and just about anyone who wants to "think outside the box" of their specific role within the industry. Despite its broad range the book is succinct, never vague, and contains a plethora of useful information. I came across this book without never having heard about the author and with the sole purpose of finding specific economic data. I found that and much more. What an astonishing surprise the book was. The book presents the most comprehensive and intelligently condensed information about the overall pharmaceutical market forces, that I saw recently. specific to the industry. For instance, the short Chapter (2) on marketing Pharmaceuticals offers more important data and contextual information than most books entirely dedicated to Pharmaceutical marketing. In a little more than 20 pages the author manages to provide useful information about sales forces management and economic analysis, including joint marketing, along with definitions about all types of promotional materials and relevant organizations for promotion of Pharmaceuticals, including Continuing Medical Education and the FDA's Division of Marketing. In the even shorter chapter on pricing, the author starts by cleverly laying out the fundamentals of supply and demand for Pharmaceuticals and goes on to quantitatively and contextually explain the worldwide differences. Overall the book has information just about any Pharmaceutical market topic; from all of the non-life sciences issues associated with pre-clinical development of drugs to the structure and future trends of the industry. All this information is easy to find because the book is simply organized in internal analysis (the industry) versus external analysis (consumer, market, public and private influential institutions). I'm truly impressed with the depth and range of knowledge displayed in this book, so much so that if I wasn't working for The Pharmaceutical Industry already I would approach Professor Schweitzer for a postdoctoral research. Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Review of Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy, April 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Pharmaceutical Economics and Policy (Hardcover)

I commend the author's attempt to provide a comprehensive review of pharmaceutical economics and policy in less than three hundred pages. This book is an interesting read and is accessible to those of us who are not economists. However, I would not recommend this book to others due to the facts that (1) the author is inconsistent in referencing the literature and (2) he often fails to present alternative interpretations of the empirical evidence. For example, the author uses evidence of price discrimination to demonstrate the "importance of consumer demand" in the pricing of pharmaceuticals and, by extension, the presence of competition in the pharmaceutical market (pgs. 103-105). However, he fails to point out that price discrimination by pharmaceutical companies reduces consumer surplus, a direct benefit of competitive markets. In addition, the book contains many typos that may prove distracting to some readers. Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)