OBJECTIVES

The objective of the analysis is to assess the impact on the budget of the National Health Services of Italy and Spain of the use of Lurasidone compared with Quetapine XR in patient affected with Schizophrenia.

METHODS

A health economic model was implemented, based on a previously published decision tree. Direct medical costs (year 2019) referred to therapy and relapse management were considered, based on the cost of each drug and on already published articles. The incidence of relapses (both with and without hospitalization) was derived from clinical trials. The target population was derived starting from the resident population in the two countries, considering the prevalence of schizophrenia and that 70% of patients are on treatment.

RESULTS

The yearly cost to treat 127,016 patients in Italy would be 227.7 million € with lurasidone and 302.4 million € with quetiapine XR, while the cost to treat 97,983 patients in Spain would be 139.9 million € with lurasidone and 228.9 million € with quetiapine XR. A reduction of the incidence of relapses is observed with the use of lurasidone in both scenarios. The main cost component is the cost of drug in both arms.

CONCLUSIONS

The use of lurasidone compared with quetiapine XR would lead to an annual reduction of costs for national health services equal to – 588.1 € per patient in Italy and – 908.1 € per patient in Spain, mainly related to avoided hospitalizations for relapses.