OBJECTIVES: Diabetic Macular Edema (DME) and neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration (nAMD) cause vision loss leading to loss of health-related quality of life. Faricimab is a bispecific antibody that binds and inhibits both VEGF-A and angiopoietin-2. The aim is to estimate the budget impact (BI) of using Faricimab on Panama's healthcare system.

METHODS: A Budget Impact model estimated the change in expenditure over a three-year time horizon for treating patients with DME or nAMD in Panama, assuming the cohort increases by 3% of new patients annually with Faricimab. The comparators are standard of care (SoC) (82% first year), ranibizumab (15% first year), and aflibercept (3% first year). Patients eligible to treat DME are 9,719 (48% have bilateral disease) and 989 for nAMD (36% have bilateral disease). Patients with DME treated with Faricimab receive 8.4 intravitreal injections annually and 4.9 after the second-year, 9.4 and 5.0 with aflibercept, 9.5 and 5.4 with ranibizumab, and 9.9 and 5.5 with SoC. Patients with nAMD treated with Faricimab receive 6.79 intravitreal injections annually and 4.69 after the second year; 8.0 and 5.63 with aflibercept; 9.13 and 7.17 with ranibizumab; and 10.06 and 8.44 with SoC. Medical fees are $380 for every intravitreal injection, outpatient visits cost $114, and OCT scans and angiographies cost $200 for everyone. A Panamanian advisory board estimated direct and indirect healthcare costs.

RESULTS: First year's BI is -$16,144; second year is -$32,566; third-year BI is -$49,253; and 3-year total BI is -$97,963. Patients with DME treated with Faricimab first year are 294, 593 second year, and 898 third year. In addition, 30 patients with nAMD received Faricimab first year, 60 second year, and 91 third year.

CONCLUSIONS: Faricimab saves money for Panamanian system health from the first-year because it needs fewer intravitreal injections and reduces using some healthcare resources and patient follow-up.