Pharmacoeconomic benefits of deferasirox in the management of iron overload syndromes

Abstract

Deferasirox is a once-daily, orally administered, tridentate iron chelator that is indicated in the treatment of iron overload resulting from regular packed red blood cell transfusions in patients with transfusion-dependent anemias, such as β-thalassemia, sickle cell disease, myelodysplastic syndrome and other rare anemias. Randomized, controlled trials have established its efficacy to reduce liver iron concentration and serum ferritin levels to be comparable to the historic standard iron chelator, deferoxamine, which is administered as a parenteral infusion. However, deferasirox may be more effective than deferoxamine in actual clinical practice owing to the improvement in quality of life and, hence, increased compliance associated with the oral route of administration. The higher acquisition cost of deferasirox may be counterbalanced by savings in the administration cost, as well as the treatment of complications of iron overload that result from noncompliance with therapy attributable to the parenteral mode of administration. Deferasirox may also have potential as an important supplement and even an alternative to phlebotomies in nontransfusional, genetic iron overload disorders, such as hereditary hemochromatosis.

Keywords::

• cost–effectiveness
• deferasirox
• deferoxamine
• hemochromatosis
• iron overload
• myelodysplastic syndrome
• sickle cell disease
• thalassemia

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Pradyumna Phatak has received honoraria from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.