Venlafaxine is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) approved for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). Following patent expiration, venlafaxine is available as generic at a reduced price. We evaluated the overall savings to the National Health System (NHS) following venlafaxine’s price reduction. METHODS:

A simulation model was constructed in Microsoft Excel to carry out a Budget Impact Analysis. Three scenarios were hypothesized: the first simulation evaluated the potential savings to the NHS following venlafaxine’s price reduction. The second and third simulations assessed additional potential savings to the NHS supposing an increase in the market share of venlafaxine by substitution of different proportions of other branded products namely duloxetine and escitalopram. Costs were obtained from IMS Health, efficacy data were derived from the available literature. RESULTS:

Mean annual treatment cost with venlafaxine decreased from €567 to €284 resulting in overall savings to the NHS of more than €44 million per year. Treatment switching from escitalopram and/or duloxetine to venlafaxine was always a dominant strategy and resulted in a higher number of patients treated more efficaciously since venlafaxine performs better in terms of remission and is less expensive. Sensitivity analyses on effectiveness (response) and cost variables confirmed our results. CONCLUSIONS:

This analysis suggests that extended use of generic venlafaxine is likely to lead to overall cost savings to the NHS due to its cost-effectiveness profile compared with other antidepressants such as duloxetine and escitalopram.