Economic evaluation of sacubitril/valsartan versus enalapril in the treatment of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction

Abstract Background: In 2020, sacubitril/valsartan(formerly LCZ696) will implement the new negotiated price of medical insurance in China, and the cost of treatment will be significantly reduced. The aim of study is to evaluate the economy of sacubitril/valsartan(SAC/VAL) compared with an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor (ACEI) (enalapril) in the treatment of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) in China.Method: A Markov model was developed to project clinical and economic outcomes of SAC/VAL versus enalapril for 64-year-old patients with HFrEF over 10 years from the Chinese medical and health system perspective. A cost-utility analysis was performed mostly based on data from the PARADIGM trial. Other transition probability, costs, and utilities were obtained from published literature and public databases. The primary outcome were total and incremental costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) for SAC/VAL relative to enalapril. The model was verified the uncertainty using the sensitivity analysis furtherly.Results: Compared with enalapril, SAC/VAL cost more than enalapril (¥96532 vs. ¥34560) and was more cost-effective (4.6 QALYs vs. 4.3 QALYs), resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of ¥185720 per QALY gained for patients with HFrEF at a WTP threshold of ¥212676 per QALY. Sensitivity analysis demonstrated the robustness of the model, identifying the death on the SAC/VAL group as a significant drivers of the cost-effectiveness. At the national negotiation price (¥9.95 per 100mg), probability of SAC/VAL being cost-effective was about 53% at a WTP threshold of ¥212676 per QALY.Conclusion: SAC/VAL was associated with clinical benefit and may be cost-effective compared with an ACEI (the current standard of care) in patients with HFrEF.