Decision-making under uncertainty in drug development
Résumé
In pharmaceutical industry, decision-makers have to decide whether to continue drug development projects, if the tests results on new compounds are good enough. Such decisions are made collectively , under a high degree of uncertainty and in non-emergency situations. These projects are very expensive, risky, and long. The major problem in this context is indecision. In order to improve the decision-making process in practice, we need to characterize and analyze situations of decision-making under uncertainty. In this paper, we propose a new defi nition of uncertainty that takes human factors in its characterization into account. Then, the factors that contribute to generate, characterize, perceive or process uncertainty are structured in a typology. That helps us recognize and explore causal and infl uential factors of uncertainty. Additionally, based on interview results, we present a description of the decision-making process in pharmaceutical R&D, illustrating the role of different actors, their interactions, and the fl ow of information. This should help decision-makers adopt proactive practices instead of reactive ones.
Domaines
Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]
Origine : Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s)