Results: The study population was composed of 1003 women and 887 men, of mean age 74.7 +/-7.4 years. Polypharmacy (5 to 9 drugs) and excessive polypharmacy (≥10 drugs) were reported in 42.9% and 27.4% of the study population respectively, while 46.7% of the study population received at least one PIM during the year 2012. Polypharmacy and PIMs were both associated with the number of frailty criteria in models adjusted for socio-demographic and health characteristics of the participants. The prescription of anticholinergic medications was the only PIM that remained significantly associated with the number of frailty criteria after adjustment for polypharmacy.Conclusions: Polypharmacy and use of anticholinergic medications are independently associated with frailty in old people.3

Pharmaceutical firms have been criticized for concentrating efforts of R&D on the so-called me-too or follow-on drugs. There have been many comments for and against the dissemination of these incremental innovations but few papers have broached the subject from an econometric point of view, possibly because identification of me-too or follow-on drugs is not so obvious. This paper focuses on the impact of entry order on follow-on drug competition in the French market between the years 2001 and 2007. More precisely, this study examines the effects on market share of first entrants in the follow-on drug market and how this possible competitive advantage changes over time. First results are coherent with theoretical microeconomic issues concerning the importance of being first. We find evidence that first movers in the follow-on drug market have the ability to capture and maintain greater market share for a long period of time. The hierarchical market position of follow-on drugs does not seem to be affected by generic drug emergence. From a dynamic perspective, our analysis shows that market share is positively correlated with the ability of follow-on drugs to set prices higher than the average follow-on drug prices in a specific therapeutic class, which means that market power remains considerably important for first movers. Moreover, we found that the optimum level of innovation to maximize market share is the highest one.

No abstract

No abstract

There is significant variability in the prescribing of different statins among patient and physician profiles as well as between solo and group practices. Consequently, there are opportunities to target demand-side measures to enhance the prescribing of multiple-sourced statins. Further studies are warranted, in particular in other therapeutic classes, to provide a counter-balance to the considerable marketing activities of pharmaceutical companies.