Canadian cost analysis comparing maintenance therapy with bortezomib versus lenalidomide for patients with multiple myeloma post autologous stem cell transplant.

BACKGROUND: Multiple myeloma (MM) is a cancer caused by malignant plasma cells that accumulate mostly in the bone marrow. In Canada, the most common maintenance therapy options after autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) are bortezomib and lenalidomide.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incremental cost between bortezomib and lenalidomide maintenance therapies for patients with MM post ASCT.

METHODS: Analyses were conducted to compare the annual costs of bortezomib and lenalidomide maintenance treatments for patients with MM post ASCT in Canada. The base case analysis included the acquisition costs of the drugs and administration costs. Additional analyses were conducted which considered the cost of experiencing adverse events (AEs) and the cost of treating second primary malignancies (SPMs).

RESULTS: In the Canadian healthcare system, the total annual per patient cost was $33,967 for bortezomib maintenance therapy versus $131,765 for lenalidomide maintenance therapy. One-way sensitivity analyses demonstrated that both AEs and SPMs had little impact on the incremental cost, and that differences between the two maintenance therapies were mainly due to the acquisition costs of the drugs.

CONCLUSIONS: Bortezomib is significantly less costly than lenalidomide, and is an economically reasonable maintenance treatment option for patients with MM post ASCT.