PhRMA Guidelines On Pharmacoeconomic Studies

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America's recent publication of a set of voluntary guidelines for its member-companies in the conduct of pharmacoeconomic research is aimed at fostering high quality and minimizing bias, says the association.

"It is important that studies be conducted and reported clearly so that they are transparent and can be reproduced by the reader," it says in the guideline's introduction, adding: "it is within the pharmaceutical industry's own interest, as well as the interest of other researchers in the discipline, to avoid bias in order to maximize the utility of this research."

The guide, entitled Methodological and Conduct Principles for Pharmacoeconomic Research, says this type of research is relatively new, and while some areas of methodology have a substantial academic agreement there is a lack of consensus so far in others. The theoretical underpinning for pharmacoeconomic research, including quality of life, derive from the disciplines of economics, psychology and finance, as well as medicine and epidemiology, it says.