This book has been built up from the papers delivered at the Office of Health Economics conference which took place at the Langham Hilton Hotel, London, on 5 December 1996.

The speakers assembled for this symposium represent important contributors to the economic analysis of the risks inherent in pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) and the returns achieved by it. Together these authors bring to this analysis a unique combination of academic rigour and detailed knowledge of industry practice. The result is a series of telling insights into the peculiar characteristics of the risk/return trade-offs intrinsic to R&D in the pharmaceutical industry.