Table 5.

Example for the comparison of two competitive products (Product A and Product B) in a multi-criteria decision analysis based on the European Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) criteria. The criteria need to be adapted, prioritized, and weighted according to the local requirements and specifications

	Criteria (requirements)	Importance factora	Weight W (%)a	Product A		Product B
				Rating C (0–2)b	Score (W × C)	Rating C (0–2)b	Score (W × C)
Cost	Acquisition cost	12	24
	Additional cost (e.g., transport, import duties)	3	6
Outcomes	Effectiveness	6	12
	Patient-reported outcomes	2	4
Other benefits	Quality	5	10
	User preference	2	4
	Application form	3	6
	Support service	3	6
Broader societal benefit	Local investment	4	8
	Distribution and accessibility	5	10
	Risk management	5	10
		50	100		Total score A		Total score B

^aThe weighting is computed from the importance factor, which is adapted according to the local requirements, specifications, and priorities

^bThe rating scale used here is from 0 (bad performance vs. requirement) to 2 (perfect performance vs. requirement). Each rating must be clearly defined before the evaluation to avoid inter-rater variability