Trial-based evaluations

Recognition that Phase III clinical trials often provide a unique opportunity to examine health-economic issues has led to a growing interest in so-called "piggyback" studies. PAI pioneered in the development of such studies, including health-economic research protocols and case-report forms for the capture of information on health-care resource use. PAI has also been a leader in prospective pharmacoeconomic clinical trials. PAI's experience in this area dates back to the 1980s,when it designed the Cholesterol Reduction Intervention Study (CRIS), a large randomized trial of lovastatin (MEVACORŪ) at Kaiser Permanente Southern California, for Merck.