Cost-effectiveness of Anbainuo plus methotrexate compared to conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs for rheumatoid arthritis patients in China.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of Anbainuo (ABN) plus methotrexate (MTX) . conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (cDMARDs) in Chinese rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

Methods: A total of 90 RA patients who underwent ABN + MTX [assigned as ABN + MTX group (n=47)] or cDMARDs [assigned as control group (n=43)] treatment were analyzed. Disease activity was assessed at baseline (M0), 3 month (M3), 6 month (M6), and 12 month (M12) after treatment. Drug, other medical, indirect, and total costs were calculated. Then, pharmacoeconomic analyses were performed with the threshold of cost-effectiveness set as 3 times of the mean gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in China during the study period.

Results: Treatment response rate was similar between the 2 groups, while disease remission and low disease activity (LDA) rates were increased in the ABN + MTX group compared to control group. Drug cost, other medical costs, and total cost were higher in the ABN + MTX group than control group, while indirect cost was similar between the 2 groups. Meanwhile, the quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) in ABN + MTX group and control group were 0.72 and 0.48 years, respectively. The incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) of ABN + MTX group compared to control group among the entire participant cohort, moderate-disease-activity participants, and severe-disease-activity participants were ¥135,486.7, ¥146,450.4, and ¥124,987.2/QALY, respectively, which were all below the cost-effectiveness threshold. Further sensitivity analyses revealed that the cost-effectiveness of ABN + MTX . cDMARDs was relatively robust, while among all the indexes, ABN price and Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI) score change for the ABN + MTX group affected ICER most.

Conclusions: Treatment with ABN + MTX offers acceptable cost-effectiveness compared to cDMARDs treatment in Chinese RA patients.