OBJECTIVE: To investigate and quantify the impact on total treatment costs of cardiovascular disease associated with the use of amlodipine in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) in the United Kingdom. METHODS: A Markov cohort simulation model was developed to estimate the expected health outcomes and costs of CAD cohorts on amlodipine versus placebo over the course of three years. Clinical outcomes included in the analysis were: hospitalization for angina; hospitalization for MI; hospitalization for congestive heart failure (CHF); PTCA; CABG; various combinations of these event- and procedure-related outcomes, and death. Transitional probabilities used in the model were based on patient-level data from the Prospective Evaluation of the Vascular Effects of Norvasc Trial (PREVENT). Health outcomes were discounted at a rate of 1.5% and all costs were discounted at a rate of 6%. RESULTS: The amlodipine cohort experienced fewer hospitalizations due to angina, CABG, PTCA, CHF, and MI than the placebo cohort did. The rate of hospitalization per patient in the placebo cohort was 61.8% while that in the amlodipine cohort was 44.3%. The cost per patient for treatment of CVD was £1,859 for amlodipine patients and £1,800 for placebo patients over three years of follow-up. For amlodipine use this equates to an incremental cost per hospitalization avoided of £332. CONCLUSION: In the UK, the use of amlodipine resulted in improved clinical outcomes through a marginal investment in cost.