Cost-Effectiveness of Evolocumab in Adult Patients with Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease from Chinese Healthcare Perspective.

INTRODUCTION: To assess the cost-effectiveness of evolocumab with statins versus placebo combined with statins in the treatment of adult patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels > 70 mg/dl after the maximum tolerable dose of statin therapy in China.

METHODS: A Markov model, based on data from the FOURIER trial, claims databases, and published literature, was used to compare the health outcomes of the two therapies from the perspective of Chinese healthcare system. The time horizon in the model was a lifetime, the cycle length was a year, and the discount rate was 5%. The output indicators of the model included direct medical costs, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs). Sensitivity analyses were conducted on critical parameters such as cost, utility, and incidence of cardiovascular events to evaluate the effect of uncertainty in parameters and the robustness of the model.

RESULTS: In Chinese adult patients with ASCVD and LDL-C levels > 70 mg/dl, evolocumab was associated with incremental QALYs of 1.25 and incremental costs of 18,714 CNY versus placebo, both with a statin therapy, resulting in an ICER of 14,969 CNY/QALY gained, which was less than the willingness to pay (WTP) threshold (80,976 CNY/QALY, a capita GDP of China, 2021). The result of one-way sensitivity analysis indicated that when the effect of evolocumab on myocardial infarction (MI) rate after the first year varied, ICER changed the most. The results of probabilistic sensitivity analysis showed that the probability of evolocumab added to statins being cost-effective at a threshold of 80,976 CNY/QALY was 100%.

CONCLUSION: Compared with placebo and statin therapy combination, evolocumab added to statin therapy for adult patients with ASCVD and LDL-C > 70 mg/dl in China is cost-effective.