PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News 680 - 15 Jun 2013

Denosumab looking good in maleosteoporosis

Denosumab appears to be a cost-effective optioncompared with branded and generic oralbisphosphonates for the treatment of male osteoporosisin Sweden.

The researchers used a Markov model to estimate thecost effectiveness of denosumab versus oralbisphosphonates (generic alendronic acid, genericrisedronic acid and ibandronic acid), from a third-partypayer perspective, in a hypothetical cohort of 65-year-old men with male osteoporosis who had a bonemineral density T-score of less than or equal to –1.90and prevalent vertebral fracture of 22.7%. Costs andQALYs were discounted at 3% annually.

Over a lifetime, total costs were €45 118, €45 396,€45 526 and €46 523 for alendronic acid, denosumab,risedronic acid and ibandronic acid, respectively.Corresponding total QALYs were 9.86, 9.91, 9.85 and9.83. Compared with alendronic acid, denosumab wasassociated with an incremental cost per QALY of €5283.Furthermore, denosumab was more effective and lesscostly (dominant) compared with ibandronic acid andrisedronic acid. At a willingness-to-pay threshold of€66 000 per QALY, the probability of denosumab beingcost-effective compared to oral bisphosphonates was85.5%. In a sensitivity analysis, over a time horizon of5 years, denosumab was associated with an incrementalcost per QALY of €10 382, compared with alendronicacid.Parthan A, et al. Is Denosumab Cost-Effective Compared to Oral Bisphosphonatesfor the Treatment of Male Osteoporosis (Mop) in Sweden? 18th AnnualInternational Meeting of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics andOutcomes Research : abstr. PMS30, 18 May 2013. 803087211

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PharmacoEconomics & Outcomes News 15 Jun 2013 No. 6801173-5503/10/0680-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved