News - EULAR: Enbrel (Etanercept) Less Expensive than Infliximab/Methotrexate for Rheumatoid Arthritis

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EULAR: Enbrel (Etanercept) Less Expensive than Infliximab/Methotrexate for

Rheumatoid Arthritis

By Alison Palkhivala

Special to DG News

STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN -- June 18, 2002 -- Etanercept (Enbrel®) therapy may be a

less costly option than infliximab combined with methotrexate for the

treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, according to new research.

The study was presented here this week at the Annual European Congress of

Rheumatology (EULAR).

C. Malone, PhD, of the College of Pharmacy at the University of

Arizona, United States, and colleagues compared the cost-effectiveness of

monotherapy with etanercept 25 mg twice-weekly compared to infliximab 3

mg/kg or 10 mg/kg every four to eight weeks plus methotrexate.

They obtained clinical data on the drugs from the Anti-TNF Trial in

Rheumatoid Arthritis with Concomitant Therapy (ATTRACT) trial for infliximab

and the Etanercept Therapy in Rheumatoid Arthritis (ERA) trial for

etanercept. Dr. Malone's team based medication costs on United States

wholesale prices, and the primary analysis was conducted for a patient

weighing 74kg, which is the average weight of persons in the United States.

Based on the results of clinical studies, the investigators estimate that 63

percent of patients taking etanercept monotherapy have no radiographic

progression of their disease over two years, compared to only 43 to 54

percent of patients taking various doses infliximab.

Taking the risk of adverse events and their costs into account, the

investigators estimated that the cost of preventing one RA patients from

having radiographic progression of disease over two years is $48,898 for

etanercept monotherapy. Achieving the same goal using infliximab plus

methotrexate would cost between $84,002 and $279,855.

They also estimated that the efficacy of infliximab 3mg/kg every eight weeks

would have to increase from 43 percent of patients having no radiographic

progression over two years to 75 percent of patients before infliximab could

be considered as cost effective as etanercept.

According to the investigators, monotherapy with etanercept appears to be a

less costly therapy than infliximab plus methotrexate for the treatment of

RA.

This research was conducted in conjunction with Immunex Corporation, Tucson,

AZ, United States, makers of Enbrel®.