The role of pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacoeconomics in promoting access and stimulating innovation.

Answering the demanding questions asked of pharmacotherapy in the 21st century will require more reliance on the disciplines of pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacoeconomics. Pharmacoepidemiology can help assess patterns and appropriateness of drug utilisation, provide explanations for poor compliance, quantify the frequency and severity of side effects, and aid in the design and evaluation of interventions to improve drug use and outcomes. Pharmacoeconomics can help determine whether a new costlier product offers sufficient clinical advantage over its predecessors to justify the increased cost. Taken together, pharmacoepidemiology and pharmacoeconomics represent the next logical step in the evolution of medication assessment; their judicious deployment can help ensure both access to new medicines and innovation.