9.26.2008

HTA Analyst in Denmark

Hi everyone, this just came in .. interested individuals please contact Michiel Hemels +45 3079 0898

HTA Analyst
R&D-Clinical Development
Denmark - Bagsværd

Deadline: 1. okt. 2008
At Global Health Economics & Outcomes Research (GHEOR), one of our key goals is to ensure maximal market share of Novo Nordisk products through support to our product teams by monitoring, analyzing and communicating HTA intelligence throughout product development. We do this by analyzing health technology assessment (HTA) activities and their implications to Novo Nordisk's development portfolio. Through exclusive focus on HTA, we support key projects with “state of art” HTA requirements & developments by monitoring, analyzing and communicating HTA activities and by analyzing business & development implications of HTA activities related to Novo Nordisk’s product & development portfolio.


Challenges
You will join the team collecting and assessing the potential impact of global health technology assessments on product development and business opportunity. Challenges include; Identifying the state of the art HTA requirements and challenges in order to support research prioritization and development decisions. Constructing and maintaining HTA intelligence database for NN’s portfolio & competitors. Conducting HTA risk assessment and business impact analysis by estimating implications related to Novo Nordisk's product & portfolio. Liaising internally in Novo Nordisk across functions on pricing and reimbursement and clinical development requirements as well with external stakeholders.


Qualifications
As global HTA is a part of Global Development it is vital that you have an interest in drug development. The ideal candidate will have a university degree in life sciences (e.g., medicine/pharmacy) supplemented with experience in health economics and/or MBA. You need to be collaborative, like to take on responsibility, have excellent interpersonal skills, be a good communicator, be business-oriented and have a well-developed conceptual thinking. The ability to work within timelines and to handle projects in a team-oriented/cross-functional environment is necessary. It is important that you are able to work under pressure and to work independently. Desire for self-development is also important in this role. Fluency in English is a requirement. You will work in a global environment with contacts all over the world and the job will involve some travelling.

The position will be based at Novo Nordisk headquarters in Bagsværd, Denmark. Novo Nordisk offers a competitive salary and benefits package and an informal, flexible, friendly and stimulating environment in which we recognise the importance of personal and professional development in a dynamic organization.


Contact
For further information please contact Michiel Hemels at +45 3079 0898.

9.24.2008

NICE seeks international policy consulting partners


22 September 2008

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has announced plans to establish a framework of International Policy Consulting Partners (IPCP) - expert individuals or organisations which will work with the Institute in the growing area of its policy consulting work for overseas governments and other “governmental entities.”

Over the years, there has been significant and growing international interest in NICE’s methods and processes, and it is now developing capacity to provide consulting services to governments and others which are interested in its model of applying evidence to inform policy within their local country settings, says the Institute.

The policy consulting service is a small, non-profit unit which is accountable to NICE’s chief executive, Andrew Dillon. Its operating model is based on using external experts and partnerships with other science-based consultancies from the academic and non-profit world, with experience in developing NICE products and also in providing global development advice.

The Institute is calling for “expressions of interest” from individuals or organizations wishing to become IPCPs by 5.00 on October 9. Applicants “should be capable of bringing together, or of working within, multidisciplinary teams with expertise in methods and processes of evidence-informed health policy and practice guidance, as required, and of providing expert advice and high-quality analysis to decision-making within tight deadlines,” it says.

- NICE’s influence extends far beyond the UK and, last month, the US Congress took the first steps to establishing an American version, when legislation was introduced in the Senate to establish a Health Care Comparative Effectiveness Research Institute which would “review evidence and produce new information on how diseases, disorders and other health conditions can be treated to achieve the best clinical outcome for patients.”

And health ministers from around Europe told an international conference in Paris this month that they adopt appraisal decisions by NICE, or Germany’s Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWIG), rather than developing their own guidances. Mr Dillon noted that while the Institute’s economic assessment work “recognises the reality of fixed resources, enables consistency in decision-making and helps direct our work into priorities,” it is also highly controversial. “The public is suspicious and the media generally hostile,’ he told the conference, which was organised by IMS Health and the French industry group LEEM,

By Lynne Taylor

http://www.pharmatimes.com/uknews/article.aspx?id=14387&src=EWorldNews

9.12.2008

Health economics and market access - how to organize it?


Hello everyone,
I hope you all had a nice and relaxing summer! Today, I'd like to get your thoughts on a hot topic. I can't help the feeling when talking to peers and looking around the industry that the market access hype is ever increasing and I would like to get your opinions on an effective organization of that function.
Before comming to that I also would like to share with you some info around the blog. I have been moving house over the summer and also been travelling a lot lately so therefore it has been a bit more quite than usual. However, I would like to thank the many readers who have sent me comments, news, job post etc. over the last couple of month. I am especially delighted that we hit the 100 regular subscribers mark and also about the many positive and encouraging comments regarding the content of the blog; among those several from folks working in different areas or completely new to the subject. In addition, I have been discussing many career/education issues with students etc. - apologies to those to whom I haven`t responded yet..I will do soon. Needless to say that such a blog lives from interesting and new info in the health economics scene and I would like to encourage you to keep sending stuff that is informative to the broader audience, especially developments around new HTA regulations, cost-effectiveness assessment bodies etc. or management/organizational matters... furthermore, I suppose some more interactive discussions could also be fun.
Now, among the subscribed readership there are a lot of experts both in industry and consulting and I would like to get your thoughts on one point that comes up very frequently in the comments I received lately: Everyone now talkes up health economics and market access (to the extend of becomming a major buzzword), which is on the one hand great for professionals in the area given that in the first years (let`s say early to mid 90's) we still needed to constantly sell the value of the discipline - but on the downside, we now have the phenomen that all of a sudden everyone appears to be an 'expert' and many, let's just call it 'freeriders' spending a lot of lipservice to the subject without necessarily understanding much of it... That goes to the extrem of constant reorganizations within the industry and to a daily (granted probably a little exaggerated) foundation of new consultancies. Within the industry large matrixes and different models are being developed and deployed (there is now almost a daily announcement in the press), functions are or being regrouped etc. - some of my friends ironically say that marketing is re-branding itself to market access, recruiters grazing the market for potential candidates... My question is: how would you ideally define the roles of health economics, pricing and market access in todays healthcare environment? Where should an optimal function/role be located on the org. chart of a biotech / big pharma company? How should roles and responsibilities be divided and organized on a global, regional and country level? What competencies and skills should such a function encompass etc.. It'll be very interesting to get some feedback as I received a lot of comments about what would be the current status quo, but moreover get a feel for where this might be going?
Thanks very much upfront for all contributions!
Cheers
Ulf

9.03.2008

French health authority creates new comission for economic evaluation in health care

The High Health Authority (Haute Autorité de Santé) in France created a new commission to look at the cost-effectiveness of new therapies and which first met on 1st July. The new commission (Commission Evaluation Economique et de Santé Publique -CEESP) will publish recommendations and clinical and economic appraisals on healthcare services strategies, prescriptions drugs and reimbursement policies. Health economists, clinicians, epidemiologists, public health policies specialists, social and human scientists and patient advocates compose the CEESP.

The CEESP will work closely with the existing Transparency Commission (for medicines), the Products and Services Evaluation Commission (for medical devices) and the Professional Activities Evaluation Commission and support them in their appraisals by providing economic assessment. Economic effectiveness will also be part of future clinical guidelines.

The article related to the first meeting can be read here (in French): http://www.has-sante.fr/portail/jcms/c_676358/nouvelle-organisation-des-commissions-de-la-has

Nouvelle organisation des commissions de la HAS
La Haute Autorité de Santé se dote d’une nouvelle commission dédiée à l’évaluation en économie et en santé publique.

La Commission Evaluation Economique et de Santé Publique (CEESP), qui s’est réunie pour la première fois le mardi 1er juillet 2008, a été créée afin de répondre à la mission confiée à la HAS par la loi de financement de la sécurité sociale pour 2008. Celle-ci prévoit la possibilité pour la HAS, dans le cadre de ses missions, de publier des recommandations et avis médico-économiques sur les stratégies de soins, de prescription ou de prise en charge les plus efficientes. Cette commission est présidée par le Pr Lise Rochaix. Choisis à l’issue de l’appel à candidatures lancé sur le site de la HAS, les membres de la commission proviennent d’horizons géographiques et disciplinaires variés : économistes, cliniciens, épidémiologistes, spécialistes en santé publique et en sciences humaines et sociales, représentants d’associations de patients. La CEESP est garante de la validité scientifique, de la méthodologie et de la qualité déontologique des travaux que la HAS réalisera ou externalisera en matière d’évaluation médico-économique et en matière d’évaluation en santé publique. L’objectif de la CEESP est de contribuer activement par ses productions à ce que la dimension d’efficience ou de coût d’opportunité soit prise en compte à la fois dans la décision publique et dans les décisions des professionnels. Les sujets à fort potentiel d’optimisation de la dépense seront privilégiés, tout particulièrement au moment des réévaluations de classes thérapeutiques ou d’évaluation de stratégies de prise en charge, dans une perspective de moyen terme. L’expertise médico-économique de la CEESP est appelée, pour les sujets pour lesquels un éclairage médico-économique sera recherché, à s’articuler avec l’expertise médicale existante à la HAS dans les trois commissions spécialisées, dont les périmètres et les modes d’évaluation demeurent inchangés : la Commission de la Transparence (médicaments), la Commission d’Evaluation des Produits et Prestations (dispositifs médicaux) et la Commission d’Evaluation des Actes Professionnels. L’intégration des dimensions économiques sera également favorisée dans les recommandations de bonne pratique clinique. L’articulation entre les commissions sera favorisée par la mise en place d’une mission de programmation et de coordination de ces travaux confiée à Raoul Briet. Le programme 2008 d’évaluation médico-économique et de santé publique est disponible sur le site internet de la HAS.

La validation des recommandations de bonne pratique est désormais confiée à un Comité de validation. Ce comité consultatif, présidé par le Pr Loïc Guillevin est rattaché au Président du Collège de la HAS, le Pr Laurent Degos, et comprend des professionnels de santé, des méthodologistes et des représentants de patients. Il a pour mission d’examiner le cadrage des travaux et de donner un avis sur la validité des recommandations de bonne pratique professionnelle, qu’elles aient été produites par la HAS, ou fassent l’objet d’un partenariat ou d’une demande d’attribution de label HAS. Il s’attachera en particulier à examiner la méthodologie utilisée, la cohérence avec les travaux existants, l’intégration dans la démarche d’outils de mise en œuvre et d’actions d’amélioration des pratiques et accordera une vigilance particulière au respect des règles déontologiques et d’indépendance de l’élaboration.