Migraine headache is a highly prevalent chronic, episodic condition. The direct and indirect costs of migraine headache have a tremendous economic impact in the US. Research has shown that serotonin (5HT1B/D) receptor agonists reduce healthcare costs, improve health-related QOL (HR-QOL),...

Colorectal cancer is among the most common malignancies in developed countries. Screening can reduce mortality significantly, although the most appropriate method is still under debate. Observational studies have revealed that lifestyle measures may also be beneficial for prevention of...

Background: Pioglitazone has been approved in Europe for oral combination therapy for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Along with other agents of the thiazolidinedione class, it has a novel intracellular mechanism of action. Clinical trials with pioglitazone have confirmed a strong product profile in...

Aims: To estimate the costs, benefits and cost effectiveness, from the UK NHS perspective, of fluvastatin (relative to no HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor [statin]) for the secondary prevention of major adverse cardiac events following a successful first percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)....

Objective: To estimate the economic value of pharmacological treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus in overweight and obese patients using orlistat in addition to standard diabetes therapy (i.e., a sulphonlyurea, metformin or insulin) and weight management strategies as compared with standard...

The pharmaceutical industry's core business is the innovation, development and marketing of new drugs. Pharmacogenetic (PG) testing and technology has the potential to increase a drug's value in many ways. A critical issue for the industry is whether products in development should be teamed with...

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a major cause of death and illness in industrialised countries. Like other hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitors, pravastatin reduces total and low density lipoprotein (LDL)-cholesterol levels and increases high density lipoprotein...

Memantine (Ebixa(R), Namenda(TM), Axura(R)) is an uncompetitive NMDA receptor antagonist used in the management of patients with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer's disease. It is currently the only drug approved for use in these more advanced stages of the disease. Significant reductions in...

A range of alternatives to the Global Warming Potential (GWP) have been suggested in the scientific literature. One of these alternative metrics that has received significant attention is the cost-effective relative valuation of greenhouse gases. However, this metric is based on complex...

Basing drug reimbursement on cost-effectiveness provides too little incentives for R&D. The reason for this is that cost-effectiveness is concerned with immediate value for money. But since the price of a drug usually declines over time, the drug might well provide value for money as seen over...