Health economists Tomas Philipson, PhD, and Anupam Jena, PhD, received the 2007 Eugene Garfield Economic Impact of Medical and Health Research Award on October 9.
The two were recognized for their work, "Who Benefits from New Medical Technologies?" published in the Forum for Health Economics and Policy in 2006.
Philipson is a professor at the University of Chicago. Jena completed his PhD in economics from the university and is a third-year medical student.
Philipson and Jena’s study found that the past and future gains in survival from HIV/AIDS therapies developed from 1980-2000 are valued at nearly $1.4 trillion. The authors also found that only 5% of the value of these drugs went to their innovators. This low rate of return, they argue, may reduce the incentive for future innovation in HIV/AIDS research.
More than 100 guests were in attendance for the award presentation at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC.
The Honorable John Edward Porter, Research!America’s board chair, spoke of the importance of the award. "We must be able to tell the economic side of the story. The return on investment—the economic value of research—is important to businesses, local economies and our nation."
Eugene Garfield, PhD , the award’s benefactor, and Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, chair of the award selection committee, presented the award. Garfield is president and founding editor of The Scientist and creator of the Science Citation Index.
McClellan, former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid administrator and former Food and Drug Administration commissioner, described the work of past Garfield Award winners. "As you have heard from some of the other Garfield Award winners’ studies, the best way to incentivize more work to improve health is to put value behind it," McClellan said.
Download an audio file of McClellan’s remarks.