Cost-effectiveness of screening for HLA-A*31:01 prior to initiation of carbamazepine in epilepsy.

Objective: Carbamazepine causes severe cutaneous adverse drug reactions that may be predicted by the presence of the HLA-A*31:01 allele in northern European populations. There is uncertainty as to whether routine testing of patients with epilepsy is cost-effective. We conducted an economic evaluation of HLA-A*31:01 testing from the perspective of the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom.

Methods: A short-term, decision analytic model was developed to estimate the outcomes and costs associated with a policy of routine testing (with lamotrigine prescribed for patients who test positive) versus the current standard of care, which is carbamazepine prescribed without testing. A Markov model was used to estimate total costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) over a lifetime to account for differences in drug effectiveness and the long-term consequences of adverse drug reactions.

Results: Testing reduced the expected rate of cutaneous adverse drug reactions from 780 to 700 per 10,000 patients. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratio for pharmacogenetic testing versus standard care was £12,808 per QALY gained. The probability of testing being cost-effective at a threshold of £20,000 per QALY was 0.80, but the results were sensitive to estimated remission rates for alternative antiepileptic drugs (AEDs).

Significance: Routine testing for HLA-A*31:01 in order to reduce the incidence of cutaneous adverse drug reactions in patients being prescribed carbamazepine for epilepsy is likely to represent a cost-effective use of health care resources.