PHARMACOECONOMICS - WHERE IS THE LINK WITH PHARMACOKINETICS AND BIOPHARMACEUTICS

Several, mainly macroeconomic factors are putting increasing pressure on health care budgets. These budget constraints lead to cost containm ent measures by all partners involved in health care. Pharmacotherapy, too, is facing an ng involvement in health economics or outcomes rese arch. This paper will first deal with some basic principles of pharmac oeconomics. The relationship with pharmacokinetics and biopharmaceutic s has perhaps not yet been an issue as such, though it should be point ed out that they play a key role in the efficiency of drug use. Many o f the basic R&D investments aimed at developing cost-effective medicin es should be founded on adequate pharmacokinetics. Also a rational use of drugs in practice can be achieved by adequate drug monitoring, res ulting in a gain in cost-effectiveness. Last but not least, pharmacoki netics and biopharmaceutics can offer opportunities for the rational u se of new or existing pharmaceutical products and for the maintenance of a sufficient market share. Some of these more technical aspects are discussed in the second part of this presentation.