Published in:
Open Access 16-03-2023 | COVID-19 Vaccination | Original Research Article
Economic Evaluation of Evusheld for Preexposure Prevention of COVID-19 in High-Risk Populations: Early Evidence from Thailand
Published in: Applied Health Economics and Health Policy | Issue 3/2023
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Background and Aims
The introduction of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines urged all Thais to seek prevention of serious illness and death from COVID-19. However, immunocompromised individuals might not be able to achieve an efficient immune response from these vaccines. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and budget impact of introducing Evusheld (tixagevimab plus cilgavimab) for three patient groups—organ transplant, autoimmune disease, and dialysis patients, from the Thai government perspective.
Methods
A Markov decision model was developed to compare the use of Evusheld plus COVID-19 vaccines versus COVID-19 vaccines alone. The methodology followed the National HTA Guidelines of Thailand. Model input parameters were collected locally from retrospective data and from a literature review.
Results
Evusheld helped prevent COVID-19 infection, severe infection, and death in all three patient groups. Using the Thai threshold of 160,000 Thai Baht (THB) per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained, the only scenario found to be cost-effective was that of dialysis patients with inadequate immune response, with an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of 54,700 THB per QALY gained. To make a policy of Evusheld provision cost-effective in other groups, the price of Evusheld had to be lower (a reduction of 44–88% of its current price). The results of one-way sensitivity analysis indicated that the cost-effectiveness of Evusheld was sensitive to changes in the rate of infection, cost and efficacy of Evusheld, proportion of inadequate immune responses, and the probability of moving from a ‘recovered’ to ‘susceptible’ status.
Conclusion
Among three COVID-19-vaccinated immunocompromised patient populations, this study concluded that Evusheld was cost-effective for dialysis patients with inadequate immune response to the COVID-19 vaccine.