322
Views
8
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Commentary

Evidence for moxifloxacin in community-acquired pneumonia: the impact of pharmaco-economic considerations on guidelines

Pages 2447-2457 | Accepted 28 Jul 2009, Published online: 13 Aug 2009
 

Abstract

Objective:

In an era of limited resources, policy makers and health care payers are concerned about the costs of treatment in addition to its effectiveness. However, guidelines do not tend to consider the cost-effectiveness of treatment options. This paper aims to conduct an international literature review with a view to assessing the impact of pharmaco-economic considerations of CAP treatment with moxifloxacin on recent guidelines.

Methods:

The pharmaco-economic state of the art of treating CAP with moxifloxacin is assessed and compared with guidelines issued by the European Respiratory Society and by the Infectious Diseases Society of America/American Thoracic Society. Also, evidence on moxifloxacin consumption and antimicrobial resistance, and the impact of resistance on the cost-effectiveness of moxifloxacin is reviewed. Studies were identified by searching PubMed, Centre for Reviews and Dissemination databases, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and EconLit up to January 2009.

Results:

The existing pharmaco-economic evidence indicates that moxifloxacin is a cost-effective treatment for CAP. However, data limitations and uncertainty surrounding the evolution of resistance emphasize the need for caution. As recommended by guidelines, the choice of antimicrobial should consider the local frequency of causative pathogens, the local pattern of antimicrobial resistance, and risk factors for resistant bacteria. The pharmaco-economic evidence corroborates the importance of these factors as they have an impact on the cost-effectiveness of treating CAP patients with moxifloxacin.

Conclusions:

CAP guidelines need to take into account pharmaco-economic considerations by balancing the effectiveness of antimicrobial regimens against their costs. The pharmaco-economic value of moxifloxacin is influenced by the causative pathogens involved and resistance patterns. Therefore, it may be advisable to identify patient subgroups in which treatment with moxifloxacin is cost-effective and should be recommended by guidelines.

Transparency

Declaration of funding

No sources of funding were used to assist in the preparation of this manuscript.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

The author has disclosed there that he has no financial relationships that are directly relevant to the content of this manuscript.

Peer reviewers may receive funding from CMRO for their review work. Both peer reviewers on this article have disclosed that they have no relevant financial relationships.

Acknowledgements

None.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.