Economic Evaluation of Voriconazole versus Conventional Amphotericin B in the Treatment of Invasive Aspergillosis in Germany

Jan 1, 2006, 00:00 AM
10.1111/j.1524-4733.2006.00076.x
https://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S1098-3015(10)60422-6/fulltext
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Section Order : 2
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Objective

To assess the costs and cost-effectiveness of voriconazole in comparison to conventional amphotericin B (CAB) for the treatment of invasive aspergillosis in Germany.

Methods

The cost-effectiveness of voriconazole in comparison to CAB was evaluated with a lifetime Markov model, focusing on the long-term survival of patients treated for invasive aspergillosis. Long-term survival was extrapolated from survival after 12 weeks of treatment, obtained from a randomized aspergillosis study. Information on medical resource consumption and treatment pathways were obtained from this study and an expert committee. With probabilistic analysis the cost-effectiveness of voriconazole compared with amphotericin B was analyzed and expressed in incremental costs per life-weeks gained. The evaluation was performed from a limited societal perspective (both inpatient and outpatient costs) and hospital perspective (only inpatient costs).

Results

Average survival of patients treated with voriconazole was 174.4 life-weeks (95% confidence interval [CI] 159.4–191.3), compared with 119.4 life-weeks (95% CI 106.4–132.3) for amphotericin B. With voriconazole, the mean total costs per patient were €30,026 (95% CI €23,118–37,947) compared with €26,669 for amphotericin B (95% CI €21,259–34,263) from the limited societal perspective. The corresponding incremental cost-effectiveness ratio was €62 per life-week gained (i.e., €3224 per life-year gained). Hospital costs were approximately 90% of the mean total costs.

Conclusions

In the treatment of invasive aspergillosis, voriconazole is cost-effective in comparison to amphotericin B. Hospital costs are comparable for both treatments and are expected to be reimbursed based on the German diagnosis-related groups (DRG) system 2005.

https://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/action/showCitFormats?pii=S1098-3015(10)60422-6&doi=10.1111/j.1524-4733.2006.00076.x
HEOR Topics :
  • Cost-comparison, Effectiveness, Utility, Benefit Analysis
  • Decision Modeling & Simulation
  • Economic Evaluation
  • Infectious Disease
  • Specific Diseases & Conditions
  • Study Approaches
Tags :
  • cost-effectiveness analysis
  • diagnosis-related groups
  • invasive aspergillosis
  • reimbursement
Regions :
  • Western Europe