Medicine’s benefits and values: basic terms and modern concepts

The article provides a conceptual analysis of the fundamental categories underpinning the assessment of the value of medicinal products and other health technologies, including good, intangible benefits, service, utility, cost, quality, and quality of life (QOL). Health is interpreted as an intangible good and a supreme value for the individual and society, whereas a medicinal product is considered a tangible economic good whose value is determined by the balance between its utility for the patient and the total costs of its development and use. Drawing on philosophical and economic approaches, value is substantiated as an integration of utility and cost, the distinction between the categories of “quality” and “utility” is emphasized, and the role of QOL and utility measures (including QALY and their possible alternatives) in contemporary pharmacoeconomic models is highlighted.

From the standpoint of clinical pharmacology and health technology (HT) assessment, the article examines the concept of pharmacology as an integrative approach to accompanying a medicinal product throughout its entire life cycle — from preclinical and clinical research to real-world use, pharmacovigilance, and real-world data analysis. Within this framework, the value of a medicinal product is understood as a dynamic characteristic formed by clinical effectiveness, safety profile, economic parameters, organizational aspects, inclusion in drug lists and HTA outcomes, and patient-relevant attributes (QoL, adherence, accessibility). The integration of these factors underpins rational resource allocation, funding priority setting, and managerial healthcare decision justification.

Special attention is paid to the ISPOR “value flower”, in which the value of HT is structured into traditional (costs, QALY), relatively new (productivity, adherence), and innovative components (improved predictability, fear of contagion, insurance value, consideration of disease severity, equity in resource distribution, scientific spillover, etc.). Accounting for these additional dimensions enables an expansion beyond a purely clinico-economic view and captures the social, ethical, and behavioral aspects of medicinal interventions at the patient, health system, and society levels. Comprehensive assessment of the special importance of medicinal products for population health — including health system needs, disease severity, therapeutic value, and strength of evidence — is an essential tool for accelerating evaluation and shaping contemporary pharmaceutical and health policy.

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