Does health economics have a role to play throughout the life cycle of a drug product or should it be principally focused, as it is at the moment, on supporting reimbursement applications and market entry? In a recent monograph, I argue that health economics activities are relevant throughout the drug life cycle. They are relevant, not only in supporting the succession of investment decisions that characterize drug development through the stages from preclinical to phase IIIA and phase IIIB clinical trials, but as an integral element in drafting formulary submission dossiers, in achieving market potential and protecting that position over the balance of the drug life cycle.