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Pharmacotherapy

Cost-utility of azithromycin in patients with severe asthma

, MD, PhDORCID Icon, , RN, MSc & , MD, MSc
Pages 2008-2015 | Received 24 Jun 2021, Accepted 09 Sep 2021, Published online: 22 Sep 2021
 

Abstract

Background

An important proportion of asthma patients remain uncontrolled despite the use of inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting beta-agonists. Some add-on therapies, like azithromycin, have been recommended for this subgroup of patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the cost-effectiveness of azithromycin as an add-on therapy to ICS + LABA for patients with severe asthma.

Methods

A probabilistic Markov model was created to estimate the cost and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) of patients with severe asthma in Colombia. The total costs and QALYS of two interventions, including standard therapy (ICS + LABA), and add-on therapy with azithromycin, were calculated over a lifetime horizon. Multiple sensitivity analyses were conducted. Cost-effectiveness was evaluated at a willingness-to-pay value of $19,000.

Results

The model suggests a potential gain of 0.037 QALYs per patient per year on azithromycin, with a difference of US $718 in favor of azithromycin, showing dominance with respect to SOC. A position of dominance negates the need to calculate an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio. In the deterministic sensitivity analyses, our base‐case results were robust to variations in all assumptions and parameters.

Conclusion

Add-on therapy with azithromycin was found to be cost-effective when added to usual care in patients who remain uncontrolled despite treatment with medium or high-dose ICS/LABA.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.

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