Dr John McMurray Details the Preliminary Cost-Effectiveness Distinction of Dapagliflozin

Cost-effectiveness analyses have not been conducted on the DAPA-HF trial as of yet, but in healthcare systems in which dapagliflozin is not particularly expensive, results are likely to be favorable, said John McMurray, MD, FRCP, FESC, professor of medical cardiology in the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow.

Transcript

Is dapagliflozin cost-effective relative to other therapies to prevent worsening of heart failure? If so, can you discuss?

We've not published a formal cost-effectiveness analysis of the DAPA-HF trial, but cost-effectiveness studies in heart failure are not very complicated. So, largely, it's about the difference between the cost of the therapy and monitoring the therapy. The cost offsets by reducing the expense of complications of heart failure, and of course, the biggest 1 of those is heart failure hospitalization—that accounts for about 70% of healthcare expenditure in heart failure. It's not devices, it’s not heart transplants–it’s heart failure hospitalization, that's the big ticket economic item. We reduce the risk of heart failure hospitalization by 30%. So, if you live in a healthcare system where dapagliflozin is not a particularly expensive drug, like in my healthcare system, then the balance between cost, cost offset, and overall cost-effectiveness is likely to be favorable.