Treating acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients with ticagrelor for 12 months is cost-effective, shows an analysis of the PLATO study.

“The results of the cost-effectiveness analysis show that treatment with ticagrelor is associated with a cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) of approximately €2,800 when compared with generic clopidogrel,” comment the researchers.

“This finding was consistent across major subgroups, indicating that treating ACS patients with ticagrelor compared with generic clopidogrel will improve quality adjusted survival at a cost below generally acceptable thresholds for cost-effectiveness.”

The PLATelet inhibition and patient Outcome trial (PLATO) recently showed that, in patients with ACS, treatment with ticagrelor when compared with clopidogrel significantly reduced the rate of the composite endpoint of death from vascular causes, myocardial infarction, or stroke without an increase in the rate of overall major bleeding.

In the present study, Elisabet Nikolic, Linköping University, Sweden, and colleagues used data from PLATO to assess the long-term cost-effectiveness of treating ACS patients for 12 months with ticagrelor compared with generic clopidogrel.

Event rates, healthcare costs, and health-related quality of life during 12 months of therapy with either ticagrelor or generic clopidogrel were estimated. Lifetime costs, life expectancy, and QALYS were also estimated for both treatment strategies.

As reported in the European Heart Journal, treatment with ticagrelor was associated with increased health-care costs of €362 and a QALY gain of 0.13 compared with generic clopidogrel, yielding a cost per QALY gained with ticagrelor of €2,753.

The cost per life year gained was €2,372, with results consistent in major subgroups.

The researchers conclude that the cost per QALY associated with treating ACS patients with ticagrelor for 12 months was “below generally accepted thresholds for cost-effectiveness.”

By Nikki Withers