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PHARMACOECONOMICS

Cost-Utility Model of Rasagiline in the Treatment of Advanced Parkinson's Disease in Finland

Neurologist and Senior Researcher, International Department of Health Economics and Epidemiology, H Lundbeck A/S, Paris, France

Juha O Rinne, MD

Neurologist and Senior Researcher, Turku PET Centre, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

Tapani Keränen, MD

Professor, Department of Neurology and Rehabilitation, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Laurent Eckert, MSc, PhD Candidate

Research Unit INSERM U669, Maison de Solenn, Paris

John M Cochran, MA MBA

Health Economics Editor, International Department of Health Economics and Epidemiology, H Lundbeck A/S

Reprints: Joumana Hudry, International Department of Health Economics and Epidemiology, H. Lundbeck A/S, 37 avenue Pierre 1er de Serbie, 75008 Paris, France, fax 33 1 53 67 42 67, johu{at}lund-beck.com

BACKGROUND: The economic burden of Parkinson's disease (PD) is high, especially in patients experiencing motor fluctuations. Rasagiline has demonstrated efficacy against symptoms of PD in early and advanced stages of the disease.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the cost-utility of rasagiline and entacapone as adjunctive therapies to levodopa versus standard levodopa care in PD patients with motor fluctuations in Finland.

METHODS: A 2 year probabilistic Markov model with 3 health states: "25% or less off-time/day," "greater than 25% off-time/day," and "dead" was used. Off-time represents time awake with poor or absent motor function. Model inputs included transition probabilities from randomized clinical trials, utilities from a preference measurement study, and costs and resources from a Finnish cost-of-illness study. Effectiveness measures were quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and number of months spent with 25% or less off-time/day. Uncertainty around parameters was taken into account by Monte Carlo simulations.

RESULTS: Over 2 years from a societal perspective, rasagiline or entacapone as adjunctive therapies to levodopa showed greater effectiveness than levodopa alone at no additional costs. Benefits after 2 years were 0.13 (95% CI 0.08 to 0.17) additional QALYs and 5.2 (3.6 to 6.7) additional months for rasagiline and 0.12 (0.08 to 0.17) QALYs and 5.1 (3.5 to 6.6) months for entacapone, both in adjunct to levodopa compared with levodopa alone.

CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study support the use of rasagiline and entacapone as adjunctive cost-effective alternatives to levodopa alone in PD patients with motor fluctuations in Finland. With a different mode of action, rasagiline is a valuable therapeutic alternative to entacapone at no additional charge to society.

Key Words: cost-effectiveness, Finland, Parkinson's disease, rasagiline

Published Online, March 28, 2006. www.theannals.com, DOI 10.1345/aph.1G454