Comparative and cost–effectiveness of JAK inhibitors for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

Written by Ilana Landau, Editor

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER; MA, USA) has released a new report detailing real-world evidence assessing the economic value and comparative effectiveness of various JAK inhibitors for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER; MA, USA) has released a new report concerning the economic value and comparative effectiveness of various JAK inhibitors for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. The results suggest that upadacitinib (Rinvoq®), developed by AbbVie (IL, USA), confers higher rates of disease remission compared with AbbVie’s adalimumab (Humira®). Further, tofacitinib (Xeljanz®), developed by Pfizer (NY, USA), offers similar net health benefits compared to adalimumab.

Rheumatoid arthritis is a long-term inflammatory condition, which manifests in pain, swelling and joint stiffness. Treatments for rheumatoid arthritis act to reduce the frequency and severity of disease flare-ups.

In this report, upadacitinib was observed to confer higher rates of disease remission and improved patient outcomes compared with adalimumab. By contrast, tofacitinib and adalimumab were found to offer similar net health benefits to patients.

An additional important clinical outcome of the report concerns the substantial net health benefits that JAK inhibitors confer for rheumatoid arthritis patients compared with conventional, disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD).

By applying economic models, the report authors also demonstrate that a combination of upadacitinib plus a standard DMARD elicits greater quality of life gains for patients, at similar costs, compared with a combination of adalimumab plus a conventional DMARD.

As a result, the ICER has placed a value-based price benchmark range for upadacitinib of US$44,000—45,000, using adalimumab as the comparator. This is equivalent to a minimum 25% discount on upadacitinib’s US$59,860 annual list price.

Pamela Bradt, Chief Scientific Officer at the ICER, commented: “Rheumatoid arthritis is a progressively disabling condition, and patients are fortunate to have multiple therapy options that are this effective at slowing disease progression. Policymakers will need to consider how to judge the value of a new treatment when its direct competitors are not fairly priced to begin with.”


Source:

https://icer-review.org/announcements/jak_inhibitor_evidence_report/