Cost-Effectiveness of Somatostatin Analogues for the Treatment of Acromegaly in Colombia

Rafael Alfonso-Cristancho, Santiago Herran Diazgranados, Kariluz Maestre Martinez, Oscar David Diaz-Sotelo

Novartis de Colombia, Rafael Alfonso, SA.
Pharmaceutical Outcomes Research and Policy Program, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
RANDOM Foundation, Bogotá, Colombia.

DOI: 10.4236/ojemd.2012.24016                

Abstract

Background: Somatostatin analogues have shown to be effective in controlling the levels of growth hormone and are recommended for the treatment of acromegaly. These treatments have high costs of acquisition and their use might be restricted in limited resource settings. Objective: To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of somatostatin analogues for acromegaly in Colombia. Setting/Subjects/Intervention: A decision model was developed using a hypothetical cohort of patients with Acromegaly. Patients were treated according to the clinical practice of the country. Response to treatment and transition probabilities were derived from published literature. Costs and resource utilization were extracted from public and private sources in Colombia. Main Outcome Measure(s): Cost-effectiveness ratio, measured in Colombian pesos in a 2 year time-horizon. Results: The total medical treatment costs for the octreotide group were (Colombian Pesos) COP$ 53,807,616, compared to the total costs for the lanreotide group of COP$ 83,126,567. In the octreotide arm 65.30% of the patients and in the lanreotide arm 59.50% of the patients were successfully controlled. The number of deaths was 295 (13.1%) and 302 (13.4%) for octreotide and lanreotide, respectively. Because the costs are lower and the effectiveness is higher for octreotide in comparison with lanreotide, octreotide is more cost-effective than lanreotide. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses were consistent showing octreotide as the most cost-effective option. Conclusions: Costs and effects of octreotide compare favorably to those of lanreotide in the treatment of acromegaly in Colombia. Sensitivity analysis showed that despite the uncertainty in cost-effectiveness ratio this result is robust.

Keywords

Acromegaly, Somatostatin Analogues, Octeotride, Lanreotide, Cost-Effectiveness

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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