OBJECTIVES: While the advent of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections changed the treatment landscape, clinical trials investigating the therapeutic potential of gene therapy in nAMD, DR and DME show promising results and may, informing future care provision. Given the high price of innovative medicines, it is essential to consider the economic costs associated with these conditions to inform resource allocation decisions.

METHODS: Medline, CINAHL, EconLit and Embase databases were searched to identify recent economic studies examining costs associated with nAMD, DR or DME. The searches were restricted to English language articles published between January 2022 and May 2024. PRISMA guidelines inform data synthesis and quality assessment.

RESULTS: The database searches generated 226 results, of which 14 met the inclusion criteria. The studies were conducted in Europe (9), North America (4) and Asia (1). While almost all studies reported costs associated with either DME (7) or nAMD (6), three included costs pertaining to DR (3). A health system perspective was predominately taken (8), followed by a payer (5) and societal (1) perspective. Multiple perspectives were taken in two studies. While direct medical costs were reported in all 14 studies, direct non-medical costs, as well as indirect costs (including loss of productivity, quality of life and informal care) were only included in 2 studies.

CONCLUSIONS: While the majority of studies reported direct medical costs associated with nAMD, DR and DME, estimates relative to non-medical costs are also needed to account for the full extent of costs associated with these conditions. The cost estimates reported by these studies, along with previous estimates, will help inform value assessments of future innovations, such as gene therapy, for both patients and society.