Budget and Time Impact Analysis of Introducing Subcutaneous Pembrolizumab to Patients From Institution HCP and Patient Perspectives in the United States (US)
Author(s)
Ying Xiao, MHSA1, Sabine Oskar, BS, MPH, MPhil, PhD2, Spencer Notinger, MS3, Colin Burke, MSc4, Karl Patterson, PhD5, Jingshu Wang, PhD6.
1Principal Scientist, MSD (UK) Limited, London, United Kingdom, 2Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, 3Lumanity, Las Vegas, Nevada, NV, USA, 4Lumanity, London,, United Kingdom, 5Lumanity, London, United Kingdom, 6Merck & Co. Inc, Rahway, PA, USA.
1Principal Scientist, MSD (UK) Limited, London, United Kingdom, 2Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, 3Lumanity, Las Vegas, Nevada, NV, USA, 4Lumanity, London,, United Kingdom, 5Lumanity, London, United Kingdom, 6Merck & Co. Inc, Rahway, PA, USA.
OBJECTIVES: Pembrolizumab administered as intravenous (IV) infusion over 30 minutes is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for multiple tumor indications. Pembrolizumab with berahyaluronidase alfa for subcutaneous (SC) administration demonstrated noninferior pharmacokinetics compared to pembrolizumab IV with consistent efficacy and safety results reported in the MK3475A-D77 trial. A time and motion study conducted alongside the trial showed reduced time and resource for patients and healthcare providers (HCPs). The analysis’ objective is to assess the economic and societal value of introducing pembrolizumab SC to patients across pembrolizumab IV approved indications.
METHODS: A budget impact model was developed to evaluate the budget and time impact of adopting pembrolizumab SC for all approved tumor indications of pembrolizumab IV. Analyses were conducted from the perspectives of institutions, HCPs, and patients. The assessment included the institutional-level budget impacts, opportunity costs of care (i.e., HCP resource utilization and consumable usage), active HCP time impacts, patient time impacts (e.g., treatment room, chair, and during drug administration), and indirect costs associated with patients’ work-related productivity loss.
RESULTS: For an example institution with 5,000 pembrolizumab infusions annually, with pembrolizumab SC adoption from IV increasing by 18% to 35% over 3-years, institutional-level total active HCP time reduces by 814 hours (-12.6%) and opportunity costs of care is calculated to be $470,417 (-15.4%), compared to a scenario without pembrolizumab SC. Total patient chair time is reduced by 4,023 hours (-13.7%) with capacity freed up for reallocation (e.g., 1,341 additional chemotherapy appointments). Among employed patients, work-related indirect cost saving is expected to be 70.5% per administration and 19.5% at the institutional-level.
CONCLUSIONS: Pembrolizumab SC will enhance the drug administration of immunotherapy for healthcare providers, expecting to improve practice efficiency, mitigate capacity constraints, and save budget. It also provides benefits to patients in administration time saving and potential productivity gain.
METHODS: A budget impact model was developed to evaluate the budget and time impact of adopting pembrolizumab SC for all approved tumor indications of pembrolizumab IV. Analyses were conducted from the perspectives of institutions, HCPs, and patients. The assessment included the institutional-level budget impacts, opportunity costs of care (i.e., HCP resource utilization and consumable usage), active HCP time impacts, patient time impacts (e.g., treatment room, chair, and during drug administration), and indirect costs associated with patients’ work-related productivity loss.
RESULTS: For an example institution with 5,000 pembrolizumab infusions annually, with pembrolizumab SC adoption from IV increasing by 18% to 35% over 3-years, institutional-level total active HCP time reduces by 814 hours (-12.6%) and opportunity costs of care is calculated to be $470,417 (-15.4%), compared to a scenario without pembrolizumab SC. Total patient chair time is reduced by 4,023 hours (-13.7%) with capacity freed up for reallocation (e.g., 1,341 additional chemotherapy appointments). Among employed patients, work-related indirect cost saving is expected to be 70.5% per administration and 19.5% at the institutional-level.
CONCLUSIONS: Pembrolizumab SC will enhance the drug administration of immunotherapy for healthcare providers, expecting to improve practice efficiency, mitigate capacity constraints, and save budget. It also provides benefits to patients in administration time saving and potential productivity gain.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2025-11, ISPOR Europe 2025, Glasgow, Scotland
Value in Health, Volume 28, Issue S2
Code
EE79
Topic
Economic Evaluation, Health Service Delivery & Process of Care
Topic Subcategory
Budget Impact Analysis
Disease
Oncology