Objective: This article examined the cost-effectiveness of zanubrutinib and ibrutinib for managing relapsed and refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia from the viewpoint of payers in China and the US.
Methods: Markov models were employed to conduct comparisons. Baseline characteristics and clinical data were extracted from the ALPINE study. The cost-effectiveness outcome indicators encompassed cost, quality-adjusted life years, and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio.
Results: The Markov model analysis revealed that the zanubrutinib group incurred an incremental cost per patient of $-24,586.53 compared to the ibrutinib group. The zanubrutinib group exhibited an incremental utility per capita of 0.28 quality-adjusted life years, resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $-88,068.16 per quality-adjusted life year, which is lower than the payment threshold in China. The willingness-to-pay value in China for 2022 was three times the country's gross domestic product per capita. In the US, patients in the zanubrutinib group experienced per capita incremental costs of $-79,421.56, per capita incremental utility of 0.28 quality-adjusted life years, and an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of $-284,485.45 per quality-adjusted life year.
Conclusion: For Chinese payers, zanubrutinib exhibited superior cost-effectiveness compared to ibrutinib. Zanubrutinib proved to be a more affordable option for US payers when considering the payment threshold.
Keywords: Ibrutinib; cost-effectiveness; pharmacoeconomic evaluation; relapsed refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia; zanubrutinib.