Correspondence: Mitch DeKoven, Health Economics and Outcomes Research, IMS Consulting, 300 North Washington Street, Suite 303, Falls Church, VA 22046, USA. Tel: +1 703 286 2884; Fax: +1 703 286 2899; E-mail: mdekoven@us.imshealth.com

¹is Director, Reimbursement and Market Access at IMS Consulting, and leads teams in a variety of market access and reimbursement projects, including payer and provider market research, formulary tier research, and strategic reimbursement and pricing assessments. He is also instrumental in reimbursement and market access new business development efforts. He earned his MHSA from the University of Michigan School of Public Health and his BA in Spanish from Washington University in St Louis.

²is Principal, Health Economics and Outcomes Research at IMS Consulting where she helps direct all aspects of the group's business offerings and marketing activities. With more than 17 years of experience in the healthcare industry, she helps engineer the group's research, consulting and programming. In addition to possessing strong, innovative research skills, Dr Hazard is a pioneer in the area of 'value communications', providing some of the first 'value message' development projects and communications efforts in this frontier of health economics. Dr Hazard holds a PhD and MA, both in political science, from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she received a four-year Chancellor's Fellowship. She earned her bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate.

³is a senior consultant in Health Economics and Outcomes Research at IMS Consulting, where she is responsible for the design and implementation of evidence-based, market-relevant programmes for pharmaceutical clients. She offers clients a unique set of capabilities in innovative project development, implementation and management. She holds a BS in health science education, with a concentration in health promotion, from the University of Florida.

⁴is Senior Consultant in Health Economics and Outcomes Research at IMS Consulting where she develops health economics and market access value strategy for products facing competition in the marketplace. She has a special interest in projects with a global focus and has worked with colleagues in Europe to describe healthcare systems, reimbursement structures and potential hurdles for developmental products in the oncology area. She has a broad range of experience in various therapeutic areas including cardiovascular and respiratory disease, diabetes, obesity, dermatology, and oncology products. Pokras received her master's degree in public health, with a focus in health management, from the Yale School of Public Health and the Yale School of Management. She holds a BS, with a double major in life sciences and biochemistry, from St Xavier's College in Bombay, India.

Received 10 March 2008; Revised 10 March 2008; Published online 15 April 2008.

Abstract

Many healthcare systems are in crisis due to rising costs, rising demand and inadequate funding. Consequently, healthcare decision makers are increasingly demanding that costs for new health technologies be justified with scientifically rigorous evidence. This is particularly true for biotechnology products, which tend to be more expensive, require more handling and have more uses/indications beyond that which is experienced for traditional pharmaceutical products. Given today's demands for demonstrating value in medicine, health economics and outcomes research (HEOR) techniques are now in focus, and increasingly linked to brand strategy. To facilitate this process, a Value Development Plan (VDP)™ is warranted; a process by which to identify, demonstrate, communicate and realise the value of a product; similar and running parallel to a clinical development plan. There are four key steps in building a VDP. Briefly, these include the following:

1. Value determination– benchmarks available alternatives in a therapy area based on clinical/economic value.
2. Value demonstration– identifies tactical outcomes research and economic model projects to demonstrate the clinical and economic elements, respectively, of the target value proposition.
3. Value communication– helps to inform and define the value communication strategy and tactics for relevant audiences.
4. Value realisation– defines price ranges for products based on demonstrated value and addresses reimbursement and seamless market access.