medwireNews: An analysis in JAMA shows that the price of PCSK9 inhibitors, recently shown to be effective against diabetic dyslipidemia, will need to fall by nearly three-quarters before they can be considered cost-effective even in high-risk patients with established cardiovascular disease.
The modeling study incorporated the findings of the recent FOURIER trial, in which the PCSK9 (proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9) inhibitor evolocumab reduced the risk for major cardiovascular events among high-risk patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease who were already taking a statin.
A total of 8.9 million adults from the 2005–2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys met the FOURIER enrollment criteria. Based on the data from these patients, Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo (University of California, San Francisco, USA) and co-researchers found that the current price of PCSK9 inhibitors would need to fall by 71% to meet the cost-effectiveness threshold of US$ 100,000 per quality-adjusted life–year.
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