Cost-Effectiveness of Abatacept, Rituximab, and TNFi in RA
Compared with intravenous abatacept and the various TNF inhibitors that were tested in this study, rituximab is the most cost-effective treatment option for patients whose first TNFi treatment has failed. This advantage is due primarily to the differences in drug costs; thus, because the effectiveness and safety are the same, the costs of the medication can drive decision making about a biologic treatment. Considering the clinical effectiveness and costs of pharmacologic treatments after failure of the first TNFi in patients with RA over a 12-month period, we found that rituximab was the most favourable treatment.
This study should be considered as an early step that needs to be confirmed by similar analyses with larger populations, including tocilizumab, and followed over longer periods of time so that the social and financial costs of different treatment regimens are also accounted for, including adverse events and inconvenience for patients.
Conclusions
Compared with intravenous abatacept and the various TNF inhibitors that were tested in this study, rituximab is the most cost-effective treatment option for patients whose first TNFi treatment has failed. This advantage is due primarily to the differences in drug costs; thus, because the effectiveness and safety are the same, the costs of the medication can drive decision making about a biologic treatment. Considering the clinical effectiveness and costs of pharmacologic treatments after failure of the first TNFi in patients with RA over a 12-month period, we found that rituximab was the most favourable treatment.
This study should be considered as an early step that needs to be confirmed by similar analyses with larger populations, including tocilizumab, and followed over longer periods of time so that the social and financial costs of different treatment regimens are also accounted for, including adverse events and inconvenience for patients.
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