The use of health economics in the early evaluation of regenerative medicine therapies

McAteer, Helen (2011). The use of health economics in the early evaluation of regenerative medicine therapies. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to help the RM industry avoid misguidedly investing in technologies that are unlikely to be cost-effective and reimbursed by healthcare providers. Health economics provides the tools to demonstrate value for money. These tools are typically used by healthcare providers to drive demand side decisions. However, they can be used by manufacturers to inform the supply side. I propose a simple approach, termed the headroom method. This ‘back of the envelope’ calculation is based on estimates of effectiveness of the proposed treatment towards the upper end of the plausible range. The method can be used either to inform an intuitive decision to continue or abandon development, or as a screening test to decide if more elaborate models are justified. One problem I encountered was the development of technologies without clearly defining the clinical problem. In particular, the marginal gain in benefit over alternative treatments is frequently overlooked. A large part of this thesis is therefore concerned with the clinical epidemiology of the conditions at which treatment is targeted. In this way, it was found, for example, the headroom for health gain from new treatment for inguinal hernia was much smaller than that for incisional hernias.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):