The escalation of healthcare costs is rapidly changing the basis for competition in the industry. Across the world, payers are clamping down on healthcare costs by saying “no” to new products, line extensions, and, of course, price increases. Reacting to the prospect of exponentially increasing financial liabilities, payors of all types are demanding hard comparative clinical and health economic data to justify any change with bottom line impact. Going forward, growth will depend on country-by-country, payer-by-payer, and patient-by-patient decisions to pursue a treatment or not, or to choose a newer, more expensive treatment vs. an older, less expensive one.

In this environment the case for economic and clinical value (ECV) will be the lynch pin for success.