REAL-WORLD FARICIMAB DOSING INTERVALS IN NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION: ASSOCIATED REDUCTIONS IN HEALTHCARE RESOURCE USE, COSTS, AND TRAVEL-RELATED CARBON EMISSIONS
Author(s)
Silvia Cornejo Uixeda1, Nuria Monteagudo MArtinez, Ph Pharmady1, Virginia Merino Sanjuan, Ph Pharmacy2, Leonor Perez Gil, Ophtalmology3, Raquel BURGGRAAF SANCHEZ DE LAS MATAS, Ph Ophtalmology3, Inmaculada Cantero García Melgares, Pharmacy Student2, Joaquin Borrás Blasco, Ph Pharmady1.
1Pharmacy Department, Hospital de Sagunto, Port de Sagunt, Spain., Puerto de Sagunto, Spain, 2Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain, 3Ophtalmology Department, Hospital de Sagunto, Port de Sagunt, Spain., Puerto de Sagunto, Spain.
1Pharmacy Department, Hospital de Sagunto, Port de Sagunt, Spain., Puerto de Sagunto, Spain, 2Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain, 3Ophtalmology Department, Hospital de Sagunto, Port de Sagunt, Spain., Puerto de Sagunto, Spain.
OBJECTIVES: To estimate reductions in hospital visits, direct healthcare costs, and travel-related carbon emissions associated with maintenance dosing intervals achieved with intravitreal faricimab in clinical practice among neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) patients, compared with a hypothetical fixed 8-week regimen.
METHODS: Retrospective resource-use and environmental impact observational study in nAMD patients treated with faricimab between January 2024-January 2026 in a Spanish hospital. Patients were classified: treatment-naïve or previously treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy. Maintenance dosing intervals:<8, 8-12, and ≥12 weeks according to the last recorded maintenance interval during follow-up.Reductions in hospital visits with interval extension versus a hypothetical fixed 8-week regimen were calculated. Direct healthcare cost offsets were estimated by applying unit acquisition cost of faricimab and unit cost of intravitreal administration visits to the estimated avoided administrations. Travel-related CO2emissions were estimated by modeling avoided hospital visits, patient travel distance to hospital, and private-car transport assumptions
RESULTS: 114 patients(136 eyes) were included; mean age 74 years, 53% women, 25% treatment-naïve, and 75% received prior anti-VEGF therapy. In the overall cohort, 25% had maintenance intervals <8 weeks, 26% 8-12-week, and 49% ≥12 weeks. Among treatment-naïve patients, proportions were 33%, 33%, and 34%, respectively; among previously treated patients, 23%, 24%, and 53%. Compared with the hypothetical fixed 8-week regimen, interval extension was associated with an estimated reduction of 2 hospital visits per patient. Applying a faricimab unit acquisition cost of €938.17, avoided administrations yielded estimated acquisition cost offsets of €111,642. Using a unit intravitreal administration visit cost of €130, avoided visits yielded additional estimated cost offsets of €15,470.Total estimated direct healthcare cost offsets were €127,112. Versus a hypothetical fixed 8-week regimen, interval extension reduced patient travel of 23.954Km and 5.06 tons of CO2 emissions.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that faricimab-driven interval extension may provide clinical, economic, and environmental value in routine nAMD care.
METHODS: Retrospective resource-use and environmental impact observational study in nAMD patients treated with faricimab between January 2024-January 2026 in a Spanish hospital. Patients were classified: treatment-naïve or previously treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy. Maintenance dosing intervals:<8, 8-12, and ≥12 weeks according to the last recorded maintenance interval during follow-up.Reductions in hospital visits with interval extension versus a hypothetical fixed 8-week regimen were calculated. Direct healthcare cost offsets were estimated by applying unit acquisition cost of faricimab and unit cost of intravitreal administration visits to the estimated avoided administrations. Travel-related CO2emissions were estimated by modeling avoided hospital visits, patient travel distance to hospital, and private-car transport assumptions
RESULTS: 114 patients(136 eyes) were included; mean age 74 years, 53% women, 25% treatment-naïve, and 75% received prior anti-VEGF therapy. In the overall cohort, 25% had maintenance intervals <8 weeks, 26% 8-12-week, and 49% ≥12 weeks. Among treatment-naïve patients, proportions were 33%, 33%, and 34%, respectively; among previously treated patients, 23%, 24%, and 53%. Compared with the hypothetical fixed 8-week regimen, interval extension was associated with an estimated reduction of 2 hospital visits per patient. Applying a faricimab unit acquisition cost of €938.17, avoided administrations yielded estimated acquisition cost offsets of €111,642. Using a unit intravitreal administration visit cost of €130, avoided visits yielded additional estimated cost offsets of €15,470.Total estimated direct healthcare cost offsets were €127,112. Versus a hypothetical fixed 8-week regimen, interval extension reduced patient travel of 23.954Km and 5.06 tons of CO2 emissions.
CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that faricimab-driven interval extension may provide clinical, economic, and environmental value in routine nAMD care.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-11, ISPOR Europe 2026, Vienna, Austria
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue 12S
Code
EE123
Topic
Economic Evaluation, Health Policy & Regulatory, Real World Data & Information Systems
Topic Subcategory
Cost/Cost of Illness/Resource Use Studies
Disease
Sensory System Disorders (Ear, Eye, Dental, Skin)