— Public comment period now open until October 30, 2025 —
BOSTON, October 9, 2025 – The Health Economics Methods Advisory (HEMA) today released its first ever Draft Report focused on the assessment of the benefits of treatment that are appropriate to consider in economic evaluation for health technology assessment (HTA) decision-making. This draft report will be open for public comment until October 30, 2025, providing a unique opportunity for all stakeholders to engage in the report development process.
While still in draft form, the report focuses on:
- Recent proposals for additional benefits which can be considered routinely in economic evaluation as part of HTA. These proposals include reflecting individual patients’ attitudes to risk around their health, widening the perspective of studies to include, for example, impacts on productivity, and capturing the equity implications of new interventions, among others.
- Determining a set of principles against which these proposals can be assessed for their suitability for inclusion in HTA, including: (i) their relevance to HTA organizations’ responsibilities and objectives; (ii) the availability of methods to value these benefits alongside those routinely included, and (iii) the feasibility of reflecting the proposed benefits in terms of opportunity costs (the benefits other patients forgo when funding is allocated to new interventions).
- A set of recommendations for HTA agencies to consider that reflect the 3 key principles and focus on additional value elements that describe benefits rather than other components of value (e.g., costs, valuation of future technologies, etc.). These other components may be considered for future HEMA topics.
HEMA has been convened by the leaders of three global HTA organizations to critically and independently examine and assess new methods and processes. The three institutions are the USA-based Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), England’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), and Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA-AMC). The intent of HEMA’s work is to provide actionable guidance to these and other HTA bodies. Importantly, because HEMA operates independently, HTA organizations are free to decide whether to implement the guidance, and HEMA is similarly free to decide whether to revise its guidance based on comments received.
Comments by can be sent via email to [email protected], and must be received by 5 PM ET on October 30, 2025. Comments can be submitted as a Word document in the following format:
- 12-point Times New Roman font
- Five-page maximum (not including references or appendices)
The HEMA Working Group will review all comments and incorporate any necessary changes in the Final Report that will be posted during Quarter 1 of 2026.
Visit HEMA’s website for more information on the HEMA Working Group Guiding Principles.
About ICER
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) is an independent, non-profit research institute that conducts evidence-based reviews of health care interventions, including prescription drugs, other treatments, and diagnostic tests. In collaboration with patients, clinical experts, and other key stakeholders, ICER analyzes the available evidence on the benefits and risks of these interventions to measure their value and suggest fair prices. ICER also regularly reports on the barriers to care for patients and recommends solutions to ensure fair access to prescription drugs. For more information about ICER, please visit www.icer.org.
About NICE
NICE helps practitioners and commissioners get the best care to people, fast, while ensuring value for the taxpayer.
We do this by:
- Producing useful and usable guidance for health and care practitioners.
- Providing rigorous, independent assessment of complex evidence for new health technologies.
- Developing recommendations that focus on what matters most and drive innovation into the hands of health and care practitioners.
- Encouraging the uptake of best practice to improve outcomes for everyone.
About Canada’s Drug Agency
Canada’s Drug Agency (CDA-AMC) is a pan-Canadian health organization. Created and funded by Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial governments, we’re responsible for driving better coordination, alignment, and public value within Canada’s drug and health technology landscape. We provide Canada’s health system leaders with independent evidence and advice so they can make informed drug, health technology, and health system decisions, and we collaborate with national and international partners to enhance our collective impact.
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