How debunking biases in research and development decisions could lead to more equitable healthcare?

Abstract

Decades of research have demonstrated that a variety of cognitive biases can affect our judgment and ability to make rational decisions in personal and professional environments. The lengthy, risky, and costly nature of pharmaceutical research and development (R&D) makes it vulnerable to biased decision-making. Moreover, cognitive biases can play a role in regulatory and clinical decision-making, the latter impacting diagnostic and treatment decisions in the therapeutic use of medicines. These inherent and/or institutionalized biases (e.g., in assumptions, data, or decision-making practices) could conceivably contribute to health inequities. In this mini-review, we provide a broad perspective on how cognitive biases can affect pharmaceutical R&D, regulatory evaluation, and therapeutic decision-making. Example approaches to mitigate the effect of common biases in the development, approval, and use of new therapeutics, such as quantitative decision criteria, multidisciplinary reviews, regulatory and treatment guidelines, and evidence-based clinical decision support systems are illustrated. Mitigating the impact of cognitive biases could increase pharma R&D efficiency, change the perspective and prioritization of unmet medical needs, increase representativeness and quality of evidence generated through clinical trials and real-world research, leading to higher quality insights and more effective medication use, and as such could eventually contribute to more equitable healthcare.