Eleanor Perfetto, PhD, MS, Discusses How HEOR Departments Use Comparative Effectiveness Research

Comparative effectiveness research (CER) collaborative tools can benefit pharmaceutical companies in a variety of ways. Eleanor Perfetto, PhD, MS, professor, pharmaceutical health services research, School of Pharmacy, University of Maryland, for instance, suggests that CER can be utilized in internal training programs as well as in making research studies translatable to managed care organizations and their leaders.

“For the most part, the responsibilities within the company are to get a drug approved, and that relies heavily on a randomized control trial design. Now that we have decision-makers who are out there looking at aspects beyond what the FDA would be looking for when a drug is being approved, they’re looking for some of the endpoints the FDA would consider secondary,” says Dr Perfetto.

She adds that the role of HEOR groups within pharmaceutical organizations will continue to grow and evolve.