Inpharma 1529 - 18 Mar 2006
Bemiparin treatment strategiescost effective for DVT
Bemiparin sodium treatment strategies with orwithout oral anticoagulants (OAC) are cost effective forthe treatment of deep-vein thrombosis (DVT),compared with traditional treatment using IVunfractionated heparin (UFH) plus OACs, reportresearchers based in Spain.
They developed a decision-analysis model, usingpublished data from 378 patients with DVT, to estimatethe cost effectiveness of three such treatment strategiesover the 3-month study period, namely:• SC bemiparin 115 IU/kg/day (7 ± 2 days) plus OAC• SC bemiparin 115 IU/kg/day (10 days) followed by
bemiparin 3500 IU/day• IV UFH (7 ± 2 days) plus OAC.*Both treatment strategies using bemiparin were
associated with an increase in life expectancy, andquality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained, comparedwith traditional UFH plus OAC [see table]. Furthermore,fewer patients had recurrent venousthromboembolisms (VTE) over the study period in thebemiparin arms, compared with traditional UFH plusOAC.
Bemiparin treatment strategies vs traditional UFHStrategies
UFH + OAC Bemiparin Bemiparin+ OAC long-term
Outcomes:Recurrent VTE events 36 9 29
per 1000 patientsLife expectancy 17.56 19.24 18.31
(years)QALYs 16.87 18.59 17.61
Costs (€):total 4128 3359 3220cost/patient 4283 3390 3316
free of recurrent VTEIncremental costs vs UFH + OAC (€):
cost/life-year gained dominanta dominantcost/QALY gained dominant dominant
a more effective and less costly
Over 3 months, the model predicted net cost savingsin the bemiparin plus OAC arm (€769 per patient) andthe long-term bemiparin arm (€908), compared withUFH plus OAC; savings were largely due to shorterhospital stays.** Both of the bemiparin treatmentstrategies were found to be cost effective compared withtraditional UFH plus OAC treatment. Furthermore, in acomparison of the two bemiparin strategies, the authorsnote that long-term bemiparin is expected to be a "cost-neutral alternative to bemiparin plus OAC". The resultswere found to be robust in sensitivity analyses.* This study was funded by Laboratorios Farmaceuticos Rovi, withwhich two of the authors were affiliated.** Costs (2002 values) were reported from the perspective of the NHSin Spain, and included those related to treatment, hospitalisation,physician services, drug administration, and treating complications.
Gomez-Outes A, et al. Cost effectiveness of bemiparin sodium versusunfractionated heparin and oral anticoagulants in the acute and long-term treatmentof deep vein thrombosis. PharmacoEconomics 24: 81-92, No. 1, 2006 801016162
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Inpharma 18 Mar 2006 No. 15291173-8324/10/1529-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved
