Oxford Outcomes and Axia Research are pleased to present a symposium in conjunction with ISPOR. The symposium will examine and compare experiences in countries that routinely use centralized reimbursement reviews for new medicines and other health technologies. Through presentations and dialogue, recommendations for best practices in reimbursement decision-making will be identified for practitioners and decision-makers.

Panelists will be thought leaders representing the perspectives of academia, the decision-making community and industry, and from disciplines including economic appraisal, patient-reported outcomes and epidemiology. We will draw on experiences from Canada, England and Wales, Scotland, Australia and New Zealand, with a view to informing the expanding processes in the United States, Germany, other European countries, and elsewhere. Panelists will address the best practices in both technical and policy arenas, using as examples the following types of questions:

Morning Session: On Evidence

• Are cost-effectiveness thresholds valid, and if so, how should they be deter-mined and updated? Should the threshold value vary depending on context?
• How should gaps in clinical evidence be handled?
• Could “coverage with evidence development” be widely implemented?

Afternoon Session: On Values

• How do decision-making bodies in different countries incorporate evidence on patient-reported outcomes?
• How can societal and patient priorities be optimally incorporated into reimbursement evidence?
• What is the role of stakeholders (public, patient, disease experts, industry) in the assessment process?
• What are the ethical implications of using cost-effectiveness analysis, evidence-based medicine, and centralized processes in resource allocation decisions?
• How can health technology assessments balance the need for cost containment with appropriate patient access and reward for innovation?

Speakers:

• Kathy Beusterien MPH, Director, Oxford Outcomes, Bethesda, Maryland USA
• Andrew Briggs DPhil MSc, Professor, University of Glasgow & Director, Oxford Outcomes, Glasgow, Scotland, UK
• David Henry MBChB, MRCP, FRCP (Edin), CEO, Institute for Clinical and Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Paul Kind, Principal Investigator, Outcomes Research Group, York, UK
• Jacques Le Lorier MD, PhD, FRCPC, Professor, University of Montreal Chief, Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics Research Unit, CHUM, Montréal, Quebec, Canada
• Adrian Levy PhD, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia & Director, Oxford Outcomes, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
• Andrew Lloyd DPhil, BSc, Director, Oxford Outcomes, Oxford, UK
• Braden Manns MD MSc, Chair, Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee & Associate Professor, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
• Joshua Ofman MD, MSHS, Vice President Reimbursement and Payment Policy, Amgen,Thousand Oaks, California, USA
• Angela Rocchi BScPhm, MSc, Axia Research, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
• Mark Sculpher PhD, Professor, University of York & Director, Oxford Outcomes, York, UK
• Sean Sullivan BScPharm, MSc, PhD, Professor, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
• Durhane Wong-Rieger PhD, President, Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The symposium is supported by an educational grant from Amgen Canada.