Overview
A modular course detailing topics of relevance to the pharmaceutical industry such as clinical epidemiology, pricing and reimbursement, pharmacoeconomics, patient experience, pharmacovigilance and marketing.
Once medicines are developed, there are a number of requirements pertaining to the registration, licensing, distribution and monitoring of pharmaceutical products. These factors include clinical trials, health economic considerations including pricing and reimbursement, the role of statutory authorities, monitoring of medicines for adverse reactions (pharmacovigilance), and how patient factors and preferences influence medicines availability and use.
The aim of this paper is to introduce students to these concepts to allow for a complete view of the regulatory, economic and sociologic aspects of the pharmaceutical industry and how medicines are subjected to scrutiny in this regard before and after they are launched in the population.
About this paper
| Paper title | Topics in Pharmaceutical Industry |
|---|---|
| Subject | Pharmaceutical Science |
| EFTS | 0.1500 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Not offered in 2025, expected to be offered in 2026 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees ( NZD ) | $1,243.65 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- 54 points at 200-level from Science Schedule C or Commerce Schedule C.
- Contact
Professor Carlo Marra carlo.marra@otago.ac.nz
- More information link
- Teaching staff
Paper Co-ordinator: Professor Carlo Marra
Teaching Staff: Dr Mudassir Anwar
- Paper Structure
PSCI306 will be taught through lectures and workshops covering the following general topics:
- Concepts in clinical epidemiology.
- The journey of a medicine: from conception to use and reuse.
- Medicine information.
- Concepts in pharmacovigilance.
- Concepts in pharmacoeconomics.
- Textbooks
Textbooks will be available through the library. Titles to be confirmed.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
Global perspective, Interdisciplinary perspective, Lifelong learning, Scholarship, Communication, Critical thinking, Cultural understanding, Ethics, Environmental literacy, Information literacy, Self-motivation, Teamwork
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes.- Learning Outcomes
By completion of this paper students will be able to:
- Define key concepts in clinical epidemiology including basic definitions, study designs and principles of diagnostic testing and treatment.
- Define key concepts and terms in pharmacoepidemiology including relevant study designs, immortal time bias, confounding by indication and other threats to study validity.
- Describe the key concepts of pricing and reimbursement of pharmaceuticals and the role health economics plays including the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio and funding thresholds in various pharmaceutical markets.
- Describe the roles patient experiences and preferences play in bringing drugs to market.
- Define key concepts in pharmacovigilance including adverse event reporting, monitoring, and assessment of risk including different study designs for assessing pharmaceutical safety and effectiveness.
- Describe the role of pharmaceutical marketing as well as media in pharmaceutical industry.
- Identify types of literature and evaluate the information source.