[Multifactor analysis: method and application for the selection of molecules in cardiovascular diseases]

Among the molecules under development or registration proposes for licensing among the pharmaceutical firms, the choice of one molecule is often difficult. The methods of decision analysis can allowed the formalization of this choice. Multicriterion analyses (ELECTRE 1 and 2) have the capacity to integrate the qualitative criteria and to incorporate concordance and discordance indicators in the judgement. The objective of this study is to present the bases of the multicriterion method and to give an example of application in the clinical cardiovascular domain to select one anti-hypertensive molecule among a preselection of 9, by using 12 differently weighted judgment criteria. Five molecules were selected by the ELECTRE 1 method and only one by the ELECTRE2 method.