Objective

The novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) outbreak began in late December 2019, declared a pandemic on March 11, 2020, rapidly spread worldwide, critically impacting public health. As new treatments become available, healthcare professionals worldwide develop treatment algorithms to maximize patient benefit and minimize the impact on healthcare resources. Due to the urgency of the situation, a number of already approved and marketed drugs are being tested for repurposing, including Favipiravir. This study aims to evaluate the Budget Impact of favipiravir plus supportive treatment (ST) compared to only ST in Mexico to treat COVID-19 mild to moderate patients.

Methods

A Budget Impact Analysis was developed to assess the difference in the annual current government health expenditure versus a new scenario where Favipiravir is included and increases its market share (from 30% year one to 70% year 5). Currently, there are not COVID-19 tretaments approved in Mexico’s formulary. So, for this scenario, this model assumes 70% of ST is indicated in COVID-19 patients (year 1). Costs (2022 USD) are presented each 100,000 patients. Favipiravir efficacy indicates that hospital length is reduced versus only SC. The total cost for each alternative is compose from medications, hospital stay and laboratory studies. The time horizon is 5 years. The results are presented for the main public health institutions in Mexico.

Results

In the current scenario, supportive treatment for 100,000 patients represents 4.45% of the total government health expenditure in year 1. For 5 years, in average, the BI is 4.42%. in the new scenario, In year 1 (30% use of Favipiravir) the BI is 3.40%, the BI average in the 5 years of study is 2.85%.

Conclusions

Data shows that early initiation of Favipiravir as recommended will have positive consequences. Favipiravir efficacy is associated to a lower hospital stay on comparison to supportive care.