Pharmacoeconomics identifies, measures and compares the costs and consequences of drug therapy to healthcare systems and society. The perspective of a pharmacoeconomic evaluation is paramount because the study results will be highly dependent on the perspective selected. Healthcare costs can be categorized as direct medical, direct nonmedical, indirect nonmedical, intangible, opportunity and incremental costs.This article provides a brief overview about pharmacoeconomics, its utility with respect to the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Pharmacoeconomic evidences can be utilized to sustain decisions on licensing, pricing, reimbursement and maintenance of formulary procedure of pharmaceuticals. For the insurance companies to give better facility at minimum cost, India must develop the platform for pharmacoeconomics with a validating methodology and appropriate training. Endeavor of this review is to make the modern young pharmacists aware about the need of an innovative concept called pharmacoeconomics, by understanding the terminologies, method and its role in Indian health care system. The complexity of modern medication dictates that no one person, physician or pharmacist, can be aware of all aspects of drug therapy. The two fundamental components of pharmacoeconomic studies are measures of costs and measures of outcomes that are combined into a quantitative measure or ratio. It can be done using various methods like Cost-minimization analysis (CMA), Cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA), Cost-utility analysis (CUA) and Cost-benefit analysis (CBA). Cost involves all the resources that are used to produce and deliver a particular drug therapy. Outcomes may be positive or negative. Positive outcomes are a measure of the drug’s efficacy; negative outcomes include side effects, treatment failure and the development of drug resistance. The measures of costs and outcomes which costs to include and how outcomes are measured and valued depends on the perspective of the study. The function of pharmacoeconomics in India is in early life at present, although clinical research organizations are being formed swiftly. Certain methodology, training and initiatives are looked-for for its development.
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