Assessing different perspectives on the value of a pharmaceutical innovation.

Numerous pharmaceutical products are launched each year for the treatment of various medical conditions. The prescriber is in a difficult position to determine which the optimal product is for a specific patient, when he has available immediate release as well as sustained action capsules and tablets, chewable tablets and liquid dosage forms. Some have activity within 15 minutes while others take longer. Some are more costly but have never been implicated with gastric distress; some are very widely prescribed and others are not well known. Some are promoted as enhancing compliance and others for schedule simplicity.In order to make sense of the array of diverse product attributes and to determine the value associated with different dosage form features, separate panels of practicing physicians, practicing pharmacists and patients were asked to ascribe value to a list of 10 drug product features that were mentioned in drug product advertisements in medical journals, by indicating what percentage price increase that feature might merit over a basic product without that feature. In addition, the respondents were asked to rank order the mentioned product features.In all three panels, efficacy and safety were accorded the highest status. Pharmacists and patients appeared to be most welcoming of some of the listed features. This pilot study demonstrates that there appears to be a recognized value assigned to some product features and it may differ by audience.