An economic evaluation of triptan products for migraine.

Objective: A composite outcome measure in migraine treatment assessment is useful to clinical decision-makers and payers as it can provide a more accurate reflection of effectiveness and allows for more complete modeling of economic value. The objective of this study was to compare the total triptan cost to treat 100 migraine patient attacks and the cost per successfully treated patient (CPSTP) for six marketed triptans using a composite measure of effectiveness, the "successfully treated" migraine (defined as requiring only one triptan dose to treat one migraine attack during a 24-h period).

Methods: This analysis was conducted from the perspective of the payer. Clinical data were abstracted from a rigorous, published meta-analysis. Two-hour response and pain-free response were used in conjunction with the recurrence rate reported in the meta-analysis to calculate the number of doses used by treatment successes and failures. The average wholesale price per dose was then used to calculate total triptan cost.

Results: Of the nine oral triptan doses compared, eletriptan 40 mg was associated with both the lowest total triptan cost for treating 100 migraine attacks ($1560) and with the lowest CPSTP ($56.39).

Conclusions: The relative CPSTP rankings for migraine therapies are dependent on the definition of treatment success and relative pricing. The results of this study support the use of eletriptan for the treatment of acute migraine based on the model assumptions. This study can be used to assist in formulary considerations and offers a model that can be adapted by health-care decision-makers.