Budget Impact Analysis of Mepolizumab for Eligible Patients in the Setting of a Severe Asthma Clinic Within Dubai Health Authority (DHA)

Abstract

Purpose

To estimate 5-years budgetary impact of introducing mepolizumab to eligible patients with uncontrolled severe eosinophilic asthma treated at a tertiary care hospital within Dubai Health Authority (DHA).

Patients and Methods

A budget impact analysis (BIA) model was adapted to the setting of Rashid Hospital, DHA to estimate the budgetary implications of introducing first-in-class anti-IL5 (mepolizumab) as add-on therapy for eligible patients with severe eosinophilic asthma. The eligible patient population (n=60) was estimated from aggregate data provided by the clinic. Patients were eligible to treatment with mepolizumab if they had ≥2 exacerbation in the previous year and eosinophil count ≥150 cell/µL. The analysis compared the cost of treating patients in two alternative scenarios; a scenario where patients are treated with optimized usual care or with available biologic as add-on therapy, and a second scenario where mepolizumab is fully accessible to eligible patients.

Results

Administration of mepolizumab to eligible patients at Rashid Hospital is predicted to result in overall savings estimated at £270,545 over a 5-year time horizon. Exacerbation rates could not be indirectly compared for mepolizumab and omalizumab, since treatment continuation rules were defined differently. Therefore, these parameters were directly taken from the clinical trials for mepolizumab and omalizumab. The savings were estimated due to drug acquisition costs (£269,900) and estimated reduction in exacerbation (n=15). One-way sensitivity analysis showed that the model results was most sensitive to changing the method of calculating omalizumab dose and varying the drug acquisition cost of omalizumab by ±20%.

Conclusion

The BIA showed that full accessibility of mepolizumab to eligible severe asthma patients is predicted to be budget saving in the Dubai Health Authority. This evaluation is relevant to healthcare decision making as it demonstrates that mepolizumab is budget saving for eligible patients, while reducing burden by improving their control and symptoms.

Keywords:

• asthma phenotypes
• eosinophil count
• exacerbations
• anti-IL5
• treatment cost

Acknowledgments

The original Budget Impact Analysis model and the associated technical reports were created by Pharmerit BV (Marten Meesweg 107, 3068 AV Rotterdam, Netherlands) and funded by GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK). The Authors would like to acknowledge the efforts of Mohamed Hamouda, Value Evidence and Outcomes Manager, GSK Gulf countries, for providing review and editorial suggestions to draft versions of this paper.

Disclosure

BM has no potential or competing conflicts of interest, AM, IEA, TL, RG & SN are full-time employees of GSK, SN is also shareholder in GSK. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

This study was sponsored and funded by GlaxoSmithKline plc. [Study Reference: HO-19-19855]. The adaptation of the model was conducted by the sponsor.