Cost per responder analysis of biologic drugs for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis under Brazilian public and private healthcare systems perspectives

Abstract

Objective: To estimate the cost per responder of biologic drugs in moderate to severe psoriasis treatment from the private and public (State Health Secretariat of São Paulo) perspectives in Brazil. Methods: Four biologic drugs were considered in the analysis: adalimumab, etanercept, infliximab and ustekinumab. Efficacy data was obtained from a published metanalysis, which evaluated PASI 75 response after treatment with biologic drugs after 24 weeks of treatment. The cost of treatment was obtained considering drug acquisition cost, according to the analyzed perspective, and dosage according to each drug information label. Sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the impact of uncertainty in the results. Results: The analysis demonstrated that, from the private perspective, ustekinumab presented lower cost per PASI 75 response (R$ 66,371), in one year of treatment, followed by infliximab (R$ 139,605), adalimumab (R$ 152,501), and etanercept (R$179,812). Similar results were found from public perspective, with ustekinumab presenting a cost per PASI 75 response of R$ 47,229 per year of treatment, followed by infliximab (R$ 75,145), adalimumab (R$ 90,292) and etanercept (R$ 130,523). Dose adjustment for ustekinumab was shown to be the most sensitive parameter in the sensitivity analysis. Conclusion: Economic evaluations are important tools to support payers during the decision making process. The current analysis demonstrated that, among compared options, ustekinumab is the biologic with the lowest cost per PASI 75 responder (more cost-effective), regardless the perspective considered (public or private).