Statins cost-effective for wider range of people
Statin therapy may be cost-effective in a wider range of people than was previously thought, new data suggest.
Researchers analysed data from the Heart Protection Study in which 20,536
adults with vascular disease or diabetes were randomly allocated 40mg
simvastatin daily or placebo for an average of five years. They compared
the costs of statin treatment with the costs of hospital stays and estimated
the cost-effectiveness of the drugs for different subgroups of people.
They found that statin therapy was associated with a 22 per cent relative
reduction in the costs of hospital admissions for all vascular events
(95 per cent confidence interval 16–27; P<0.0001).
The researchers say that statin therapy is currently recommended when
a patient’s estimated 10-year risk of a non-fatal heart attack
or coronary death is at least 15–20 per cent. They point out that
previous data from the HPS study demonstrated that statin therapy also
reduces the risk of stroke and revascularisation procedures, and that
guidelines should be based on the risks of all major vascular events,
and not just coronary events.
Furthermore, they note that the price of generic simvastatin has fallen
to about 15 per cent of its 2001 proprietary price since it reached the
end of its patent. They say that, at this price, the cost savings from
reduced hospital stays would outweigh the cost of 40mg simvastatin daily
for people whose risk of having a major vascular event within five years
is as low as 12 per cent. This is approximately equivalent to a major
coronary event risk of at least 4 per cent, much lower than the currently
recommended threshold for statin treatment. They conclude that the estimated
risk level at which statin therapy is recommended should be reduced (Lancet 2005;365:1779). |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader