Pharmacoeconomic evaluation of apixaban use for the treatment and prevention of venous thromboembolism in the general population and patients with oncological diseases

Aim. To conduct a pharmacoeconomic analysis of the use of the drug Eliquis® (apixaban), belonging to direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), for the treatment and prevention of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and/or pulmonary embolism (PE), including in patients suffering from cancer disease compared with other anticoagulants. Materials and Methods. The economic assessment was made from the standpoint of the healthcare of the Russian Federation. Comparative evaluation of the effectiveness of DOACs was carried out on the basis of the combined rate of the incidence of VTE and death from VTE, as well as death from any cause. Safety assessment — based on the rate of major bleeding (MB) and clinically significant non-severe bleeding (CSNSB). The evaluation was performed on the basis of data obtained in the course of previously performed meta-analyses, the results of which were published. The total cost of patient management for each of the compared alternative treatment tactics was estimated by calculating the cost of a course of drug therapy, as well as the cost of managing adverse events in the study horizon, which was 12 months. The conclusion about the most preferred alternative was made on the basis of data on the relationship between the effectiveness and cost of treating the patient. Results. Apixaban compared with dabigatran and rivaroxaban was associated with a lower risk of developing MB and CSNSB. In addition, in patients taking apixaban, there was a trend towards a decrease in the risk of death from any cause compared with patients who used dabigatran and rivaroxaban, which did not reach statistical significance, which in turn led to the choice of the method of pharmacoeconomic analysis — “cost minimization”. It has been established that the use of apixaban is characterized by the lowest costs, the cost of managing one patient amounted to 59 271,89 rubles per year, which is 28,8 % and 27,2 % lower than similar costs for treatment regimens with the original drugs dabigatran and rivaroxaban, respectively. The difference in costs was due to both the cost of treating complications (1362.8 rubles vs. 2536.3 rubles vs. 3170.9 rubles for apixaban, rivaroxaban and dabigatran, respectively), and the cost of treatment and prophylaxis of DOACs (31 514,20 RUB vs 46 434,8 RUB vs 46 790,6 RUB, respectively). Similar results were achieved in the group of patients suffering from oncological diseases, as DOACs also allowed to reduce costs by 4–5 times compared with the use of LMWH. Conclusion. Among the original DOACs and traditional LMWH therapies, the apixaban regimen has the best cost-effectiveness ratio and is the most preferred alternative in terms of pharmacoeconomic analysis.

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