Estimating cost savings of pharmacogenetic testing for depression in real-world clinical settings

Abstract

The burden of depression significantly impacts the patient, the health care system, and society, at large. Medication management guided by pharmacogenetics has been shown to increase therapeutic efficacy and improve symptoms in patients diagnosed with depression, but limited data are available on the cost savings of pharmacogenetic-guided interventions outside of psychiatric clinical specialties. Our study utilizes published health care costs and clinical patient outcome data to model the economic impact of pharmacogenetic-guided treatment for depression in a variety of clinical settings. Assuming a test cost of USD$2,000 for pharmacogenetic testing, the model predicts a savings of USD$3,962 annually per patient with pharmacogenetic-guided medication management.

Keywords:

• pharmacogenetics
• depression
• personalized medicine
• cost savings
• pharmacoeconomics
• psychotropic
• cytochrome P450

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Paul Greenberg and Mihran Yenikomshian for providing input and expertise that greatly assisted the research, and Marilyn Olson for her valuable feedback on the manuscript. This study was funded by AltheaDx.

Author contributions

AM and AC were involved in the study, design, data collection and analysis, and preparation of the manuscript. AL and JG were involved in the study design, interpretation of the results, and the review and revision of the manuscripts. All authors contributed toward data analysis, drafting and revising the paper and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

AM, AC, AL, and JG are employed by AltheaDx. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.