BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fibrotic disease of the lungs of unknown origin with a poor prognosis. A small trial of co-trimoxazole demonstrated improvements in symptoms and functional parameters over a 3-month period. We therefore conducted a larger trial with a concurrent economic evaluation to investigate this antibiotic further. METHODS: We report an economic evaluation alongside a multi-centre, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of 12 months therapy with 960 mg co-trimoxazole daily in 181 patients with fibrotic idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP). Patients were recruited from 28 university and district hospitals in the UK and were aged over 40 years with fibrotic IIP. We report costs to the National Health Service (NHS) and society, change in forced vital capacity (primary endpoint) and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained, incremental cost effectiveness and cost utility ratios over 12 months. RESULTS: From the perspective of society, mean cost per patient in the co-trimoxazole arm was approximately £1177 higher than in the placebo arm, but mean QALYs were 0.053 higher yielding an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of £22,012 per QALY gained with a 54.44 % probability of being below £30,000. The cost of IPF to UK society in 2011 is tentatively estimated at £124 million, of which 13 % is NHS costs, 1 % social services, 2 % patient out-of-pocket costs and 84 % lost productivity. CONCLUSIONS: Given commonly employed thresholds in the UK NHS, on balance co-trimoxazole may be a cost-effective treatment for IPF, although there is substantial decision uncertainty. However, recent guidance on the use of immunosuppressive therapy in IPF patients should be taken into account prior to any policy decision.
BACKGROUND: Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a fibrotic disease of the lungs of unknown origin with a poor prognosis. A small trial of co-trimoxazole demonstrated improvements in symptoms and functional parameters over a 3-month period. We therefore conducted a larger trial with a concurrent economic evaluation to investigate this antibiotic further. METHODS: We report an economic evaluation alongside a multi-centre, randomised, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of 12 months therapy with 960 mg co-trimoxazole daily in 181 patients with fibrotic idiopathic interstitial pneumonia (IIP). Patients were recruited from 28 university and district hospitals in the UK and were aged over 40 years with fibrotic IIP. We report costs to the National Health Service (NHS) and society, change in forced vital capacity (primary endpoint) and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained, incremental cost effectiveness and cost utility ratios over 12 months. RESULTS: From the perspective of society, mean cost per patient in the co-trimoxazole arm was approximately £1177 higher than in the placebo arm, but mean QALYs were 0.053 higher yielding an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of £22,012 per QALY gained with a 54.44 % probability of being below £30,000. The cost of IPF to UK society in 2011 is tentatively estimated at £124 million, of which 13 % is NHS costs, 1 % social services, 2 % patient out-of-pocket costs and 84 % lost productivity. CONCLUSIONS: Given commonly employed thresholds in the UK NHS, on balance co-trimoxazole may be a cost-effective treatment for IPF, although there is substantial decision uncertainty. However, recent guidance on the use of immunosuppressive therapy in IPF patients should be taken into account prior to any policy decision.
Authors: Ganesh Raghu; Harold R Collard; Jim J Egan; Fernando J Martinez; Juergen Behr; Kevin K Brown; Thomas V Colby; Jean-François Cordier; Kevin R Flaherty; Joseph A Lasky; David A Lynch; Jay H Ryu; Jeffrey J Swigris; Athol U Wells; Julio Ancochea; Demosthenes Bouros; Carlos Carvalho; Ulrich Costabel; Masahito Ebina; David M Hansell; Takeshi Johkoh; Dong Soon Kim; Talmadge E King; Yasuhiro Kondoh; Jeffrey Myers; Nestor L Müller; Andrew G Nicholson; Luca Richeldi; Moisés Selman; Rosalind F Dudden; Barbara S Griss; Shandra L Protzko; Holger J Schünemann Journal: Am J Respir Crit Care Med Date: 2011-03-15 Impact factor: 21.405
Authors: Don Husereau; Michael Drummond; Stavros Petrou; Chris Carswell; David Moher; Dan Greenberg; Federico Augustovski; Andrew H Briggs; Josephine Mauskopf; Elizabeth Loder Journal: Pharmacoeconomics Date: 2013-05 Impact factor: 4.981
Authors: Ganesh Raghu; Kevin J Anstrom; Talmadge E King; Joseph A Lasky; Fernando J Martinez Journal: N Engl J Med Date: 2012-05-20 Impact factor: 91.245
Authors: Andrew M Wilson; Allan B Clark; Tony Cahn; Edwin R Chilvers; William Fraser; Matthew Hammond; David M Livermore; Toby M Maher; Helen Parfrey; Ann Marie Swart; Susan Stirling; David R Thickett; Moira Whyte Journal: JAMA Date: 2020-12-08 Impact factor: 56.272