Quality Appraisal of the Pharmacoeconomic Research Literature about Antivirals: A Comparison between Chinese Medicine and Non-Chinese Medicine

Introduction. Antiviral activity is a main function of many types of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and they may contribute more in the process of certain viral epidemics. Therefore, based on the effectiveness and economy of TCM, we aimed to determine the situation of health economic studies about antivirals, especially the difference between TCM and non-TCM. Methods. A literature search of three databases was conducted with a time range of January 2000–December 2020, and terms related to health economics and TCM were used as key terms. QHES and CHEERS were used as quality assessment tools. Results. 203 papers were included in our research. After evaluation using QHES and CHEERS, antiviral TCM obtained an overall score of 41.37 ± 4.46/99 in QHES, compared with 48.89 ± 7.25/99 (18.18% higher than TCM) of antiviral non-TCM. Conclusion. With a statistically significant difference, the overall quality of pharmacoeconomic research about antiviral non-Chinese medicine is better than that about antiviral Chinese medicine, which may have resulted from researchers’ capacities or the absence of a more suitable standard for pharmacoeconomic research. It tells that the quality of pharmacoeconomic studies about TCM still warrants improvement.

COMPARATIVE PHARMACOECONOMIC RESEARCH AND EVALUATION OF ENALAPRIL GENERICS IN TREATMENT OF PATIENTS WITH ARTERIAL HYPERTENSION

The number of people with cardiovascular diseases has increased significantly in recent years. According to statistics, diseases of the cardiovascular system occupy one of the first places among other diseases. One of the main pathologies in cardiology is hypertension. Treatment of arterial hypertension for a long period remains an important medico-social and economic task, a heavy financial burden falls on the patient himself or on the health care system, in the case of free distribution of drugs. The group of antihypertensive drugs is one of the most expensive, which raises the question of cost-effective therapy. Clinical and economic research that combines analysis of clinical efficacy and affordability is necessary for evidence-based, rather than empirical, choice of the drug. The most acceptable method of assessing the clinical significance of various drugs is a «cost-effectiveness» analysis. The article is devoted to the conducted pharmacoeconomic research, giving a comparative assessment of various enalapril generics. The objective of the work was to identify and justify the use of the most clinically effective and cost-effective generic drugs enalapril. The methodological basis of the research was the modern concept of marketing research of the drug market, the methodology of system analysis and scientific forecasting of economic phenomen. In the process of research, the methods of system, sociological, economic and statistical analysis, including absentee questionnaires, were used. As a result, sales of cardiovascular drugs on the pharmaceutical market were analyzed, the structure of enalapril generic consumption in health facilities was studied, and a pharmacoeconomic analysis («cost-effectiveness» method) of antihypertensive treatment of enalapril generics was conducted.

Pharmacoeconomic analysis of everolimus immunosuppressive therapy for de novo kidney transplant recipients in Russia

Currently, patients after kidney transplantation can receive mycophenolate mofetil (MPM), mycophenolic acid (MPA), cyclosporine (CSA) and tacrolimus (TAC) through the Federal High-cost Nosologies Program (VZN) in Russia. Use of everolimus (EVL) in combination with a reduced dose of calcineurin inhibitors has some advantages over the current practice of immunosuppressive therapy that is financed through VZN.Aim: to conduct a comprehensive pharmacoeconomic research of using EVL for immunosuppressive therapy of adult de novokidney transplantation recipients in comparison with the current immunosuppressive therapy practice that is covered by the VZN Program in the Russian Federation.Materials and methods. According to the latest clinical data, effectiveness of immunosuppressive therapy schemes based on EVL and MPA is comparable, which allows to use ‘cost minimization’ method for pharmacoeconomic research. We also performed budget impact analysis of the VZN Program expenditures for a period of 2020–2022.Results. The three-year medication costs of using EVL-based immunosuppressive scheme were 502,785 RUB, which was 508,493 RUB (50.3%) less than medication costs of using MPA-based schemes that are covered by the VZN Program in current practice. The inclusion of EVL to the VZN Program will reduce its costs by 90 million RUB during the first year (2020), by 181 million RUB – during the second year (2021), and by 262 million RUB during the third year (2022). In three years VZN Program costs could be reduced by 533 million RUB (48.6%).Conclusion. Use of EVL is a cost-saving approach for immunosuppressive therapy of adult de novo kidney transplant recipients, compared to MPA-based schemes, that are covered by the VZN Program in current practice in Russia.