PharmacoEconomics
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Factors governing the entry of new drugs into clinical practice are changing, with increasing emphasis on economic issues. In future, organisations that subsidise the use of pharmaceuticals are likely to require sponsors to provide evidence of the cost-effectiveness of their products. The first national government to signal such an intention is the Commonwealth Government of Australia, which from January 1993 will require economic analyses in support of applications for listing of new pharmaceutical products on its schedule of pharmaceutical benefits. ⋯ The responsibility for monitoring the effects of this new policy lie with the government. The success, or otherwise, of the policy should not be gauged simply by the effects on the price of new drugs which, historically, have been relatively low in Australia. A full evaluation will require that more effort be put into clinical outcomes research and the development of population databases, an area in which Australia lags behind other countries.