OBJECTIVES: The health utility measured for an individual can vary depending on the country of assessment. This is due to varying preferences for health states between countries. We aimed to evaluate the impact of employing country-specific versus non-country-specific health utility values in a manufacturers' economic evaluation for health technology assessment (HTA) submissions in Canada.

METHODS: A review of HTA submissions for hematological cancers to Canada's Drug Agency (CDA) was conducted using our proprietary tool [hta]DataMine. We identified submissions where Canadian preference weights were either employed or omitted in estimating health state and treatment utility values. In cases where country-specific values were not used, we investigated the impact on the submission process, including whether reviewers raised concerns about the absence of country-specific values and whether manufacturers were required to address these concerns prior to proceeding with their submissions.

RESULTS: Between 2021 and 2024, a total of 25 submissions were reviewed. Out of these, 23 included a cost-utility analysis. Among these 23, 11 used Canadian preference-weighted utility values, 9 used UK preference values, 1 used US preference values, and 2 had unclear descriptions regarding the country preference. Of the 10 submissions not using Canadian-specific preference values, only 2 received reviewer comments regarding this issue, though none were required to revise their economic evaluations to include Canadian preferences. When assessing recommendation decisions for these 10 submissions, 8 were recommended for reimbursement, subject to clinical criteria and/or conditions.

CONCLUSIONS: This review found that nearly half of the hematological cancer submissions to CDA over the past three years did not incorporate Canadian-specific preferences for health state and utility values. It appears including Canadian preferences has little impact on the HTA review process for hematological cancers.