Sean D. Sullivan

Professor of Pharmacy

CHOICE Faculty, Department of Pharmacy, School Faculty

Telephone: (206) 685-8153

Email: sdsull@uw.edu

Office Location: University of Washington 1959 NE Pacific Ave, H-364, Box 357631 Seattle, WA 98195-7630

Expertise:
Cancer Treatments, Claims Data, Comparative Effectiveness Research, Drug Policy, Economic Evaluation, Health Economics, Health Outcomes, Health Policy, Health Services Research

Positions

Professor of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Professor of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of Washington; Full Member, Public Health Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Education

  • BSc.Pharm 1983 Oregon State University, College of Pharmacy
  • M.Sc. 1986 University of Texas, College of Pharmacy (Administrative and Economic Sciences)
  • Ph.D. 1992 University of California, Berkeley (Health Economics and Policy)

Research Interests

  • Pharmaceutical policy
  • Economic evaluation of pharmaceuticals
  • Health technology assessment
  • Medical decision making

Courses Taught

  • HEOR 530 – Economic Evaluation of Medical Technologies
  • PHARM 503 – Leadership in Pharmacy and Healthcare
  • PHARM 579 – Seminar in Pharmacotherapy
  • HECON 530 – Practice of Healthcare Technology Assessment in a Global Environment

Biography

Sean D. Sullivan, BScPharm, MSc, PhD, is a Professor, School of Pharmacy and Visiting Professor, London School of Economics and Political Science. He holds a joint appointment as Professor of Health Services, School of Public Health. He holds adjunct appointments in the School of Medicine and the Public Health Sciences Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Sullivan was Dean of the School of Pharmacy from 2014 to 2022.

He completed training in pharmacy at Oregon State University in 1983, obtained a master’s degree at the University of Texas in 1986 and a PhD in health economics and policy at the University of California, Berkeley in 1992.

Dr. Sullivan has authored more than 450 articles, book chapters and reports. In many of these, he has assessed the evidence and applications of medical technology in relation to coverage and reimbursement decisions. His research interests include health technology assessment, medical decision-making, and economic evaluation of medical technology, including pharmaceuticals. He is past president of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) and past chair of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) Executive Committee of the Format for Formulary Submissions – the United States evidence-based guidelines for formulary decision making.

Dr. Sullivan was a member of the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee, Chair of the Regence Blue Shield and Premera Blue Cross P/T Committee, and Chair of the Premera Blue Cross Value Assessment Committee. He was awarded the 2014 Stephen G. Avey Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP), and the 2015 APhA Academy of Pharmaceutical Research Sciences (APRS) Research Achievement Award. In 2020, he was elected to the National Academy of Medicine and in 2022 was elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).

Selected Publications

  • Basu A, Neumann PJ, Sullivan SD. International Reference Pricing: A Lazy, Misguided, Bi-Partisan Plan to Lower US Drug Prices. Health Affairs blog Dec 2, 2020: DOI: 10.1377/hblog20201130.594055
  • Bloudek LM, Nguyen V, Grueger J, Sullivan SD. Are New Drugs Priced in Accordance with Value? A Comparison of Value-Based and List Prices Using ICER Reports. Value in Health 2021 Jun;24(6):789-794.
  • Guzman Ruiz, YF, Vecino-Ortiz, AI, Sullivan SD, Trujillo AJ. Cost-effectiveness of the COVID-19 Test, Trace and Isolate (TTI) program in Columbia. Lancet Reg Health Am 2021 Nov 1:100109. doi: 10.1016/j.lana.2021.100109.
  • Briggs AJ, Rosetti K, Wehler E, Bokemeyer C, Lassen U, Paracha N, Sullivan SD. Estimating long-term survival outcomes from immature survival data for tumor-agnostic therapies: Larotrectinib case study. Oncology 2021 doi: 10.1159/000519767
  • Briggs AJ, Wehler E, Gaultney J, Upton A, Italiano A, Bokemeyer C, Paracha N, Sullivan SD. Comparison of alternative methods to assess the cost-effectiveness of tumor agnostic therapies: A triangulation approach using larotrectinib as a case study. Value in Health 2022 Jun;25(6):1002-1009.
  • Sullivan SD, Sullivan KD, Dabbous O, Garrison LP. International reference pricing: Implications for the US pharmaceutical market. Journal of Managed Care and Specialty Pharmacy 2022 May;28(5):566-572.
  • Ramsey SD, Bansal A, Sullivan SD, et al. Effects of a guideline-informed clinical decision support system intervention to improve colony stimulating factor prescribing: A Pragmatic Cluster-Randomized Trial. JAMA Network Open. 2022 Oct 3;5(10):e2238191
  • Yeung K, Bloudek L, Sullivan SD. Estimating US National Prescription Drug Savings from Applying Value-Based Price Caps. JAMA Health Forum 2022 in press
  • Sullivan SD. Medicare Drug Price Negotiation in the US: Implications and Unanswered Questions. Value in Health 2023 Mar;26(3):394-399.
  • Sullivan SD, Lakdawala DN, Devine B, Grueger J, Carlson JJ, Veenstra DL, Phelps CE, Basu A. Incorporating Quality of Life Measures in Comparative Effectiveness Research. Health Affairs Forefront April 21, 2023. DOI: 10.1377/forefront.20230419.896238
  • Basu A, Veenstra DL, Devine B, Carlson JJ, Sullivan SD. A Principles-based guide for CMS as it considers price negotiation under the Inflation Reduction Act. Health Affairs Forefront June 22, 2023. DOI: 10.1377/forefront.20230620.965471