Background: A new adjuvanted subunit vaccine (HZ/su), with higher vaccine efficacy than live-attenuated vaccine (ZVL), has been licensed in Europe since March 2018. Therefore, Belgian decision-makers might need to re-assess their recommendations for vaccination against herpes zoster (HZ).
Methods: We conducted a cost-effectiveness analysis, using a Markov decision tree, of vaccinating 50- to 85-year-old immunocompetent Belgian cohorts with no vaccination, HZ/su, ZVL, and ZVL with booster after 10 years. Due to the uncertainty in vaccine waning of HZ/su vaccine beyond 4 years, we used a logarithmic and 1-minus-exponential function to model respectively a long and short duration of protection. We used a lifetime time horizon and implemented the health care payer perspective throughout the analysis.
Results: HZ/su had the greatest impact in avoiding health and economic burden. However, it would never become cost-effective at a willingness-to-pay threshold of €40,000 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) gained at its market price set by the manufacturer in the USA. Depending on the waning function assumed for HZ/su, the price per dose needs to drop 60% or 83% such that vaccination with HZ/su, assuming respectively a long or short duration of protection, would become cost-effective in 50- and 80-year-old individuals. At €40,000 per QALY gained, ZVL or ZVL with booster was never found cost-effective compared with HZ/su, even if only administration cost was considered.
Conclusion: HZ/su is cost-effective in the 50-year-old age cohort at the unofficial Belgian threshold of €40,000 per QALY gained, if its price drops to €55.40 per dose. This result is, however, very sensitive to the assumed duration of protection of the vaccine, and the assumed severity and QALY loss associated with HZ and post-herpetic neuralgia (PHN).
© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.