Questionnaire Survey of Pharmaceutical Companies on Pharmacoeconomic Evaluation
Toshiya Ikeda (Professor, Department of Pharmacy, International University of Health and Welfare, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences)
Kozo Sannomiya (Senior Researcher, Pharmaceutical and Industrial Policy Research Institute)
(No. 44: Published in December 2008)
Pharmacoeconomics research is increasingly being used in other countries for policy making related to health care. The introduction of pharmacoeconomic evaluation into healthcare policy has been progressing mainly in European countries, where various institutions have been established and used to make decisions such as whether or not to provide insurance reimbursement. Therefore, it is essential for each pharmaceutical company to conduct pharmacoeconomic evaluation in the target country.
In Japan, the possibility of using pharmacoeconomics in policy making has often been pointed out, but its concrete use has yet to be realized. In order to use pharmacoeconomic evaluation in policy making, several issues need to be addressed, including the establishment of an evaluation system, the development of guidelines and databases, and the establishment of education and research systems. In Japan, the submission of pharmacoeconomic evaluation data is not mandatory for drug price calculation, and it is not used for decision making, such as whether or not to reimburse drug costs.
Therefore, two surveys were conducted simultaneously to determine the extent to which pharmacoeconomic evaluation materials are submitted at the time of NHI drug price calculation and how pharmacoeconomic evaluation is used by pharmaceutical companies. In addition, a review of published pharmacoeconomic studies of new drugs was also conducted. Based on the results of these studies, the challenges and prospects for pharmacoeconomic evaluation in Japan were discussed.