Epidemiology in the pharmaceutical industry

A survey assessing the practice of epidemiology in the pharmaceutical indus try was sent to all member companies and research affiliates of the Pharmac eutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and to six non-member companies. Eighty-three companies were surveyed. Screening questions estab lished whether or not a company employed epidemiologists, had an epidemiolo gy department, or contracted work to epidemiologists outside the company. T he survey included questions about organizational structure, functional rol e of epidemiologists, epidemiology department activities within the company , and collaboration with external partners. The response rate was 90.4%. Of the responding companies, 40% employed epidemiologists, 20% had epidemiolo gy departments, and 36% utilized epidemiologists contracted outside the com pany. Eighty per cent of companies that employed epidemiologists also contr acted epidemiology services outside of the company, while 6.7% of companies that did not employ epidemiologists utilized outside epidemiology services . Among all companies 42.7% employed or utilized epidemiologists. Differenc es were found in the extent to which large, medium and small pharmaceutical companies employ and utilize epidemiologists. The survey demonstrates that epidemiologists perform many roles within the pharmaceutical industry; tha t there are many potential opportunities for epidemiologists in this indust ry and that increased emphasis on safety will require more epidemiology tra ining and recruitment efforts. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.