Cost effectiveness of darunavir/ritonavir 600/100 mg bid in protease inhibitor-experienced, HIV-1-infected adults in Belgium, Italy, Sweden and the UK.

Background: Two phase II trials (POWER 1 and 2) have demonstrated that darunavir co-administered with low-dose ritonavir (DRV/r) provides significant clinical benefit compared with control protease inhibitors (PIs) in highly treatment-experienced, HIV-1-infected adults, when co-administered with optimized background therapy (OBR).

Objective: To determine whether DRV/r is cost effective compared with control PIs, from the perspective of Belgian, Italian, Swedish and UK reimbursement authorities, when used in treatment-experienced patients similar to those included in the POWER 1 and 2 trials.

Methods: An existing Markov model containing health states defined by CD4 cell count ranges (> 500, 351-500, 201-350, 101-200, 51-100 and 0-50 cells/mm³) and death was adapted for use in four European healthcare settings.