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Cost-effective glaucoma drugs are needed
MADRID, Spain — Glaucoma medications should be selected based on the economics of the specific health care systems in which they will be used, said two surgeons here at the Congress of the European Society of Ophthalmology.
Christansen Torsten, MD, and Peter Bo Poulsen, MD, of Denmark, both conducted studies to determine the most cost-effective glaucoma drugs. The two studies targeted different patient populations but aimed at finding adequate intraocular pressure-lowering drugs suitable for substitution.
Dr. Torsten conducted a study in Norway comparing brimonidine tartrate 0.2% (Alphagan, Allergan) and dorzolamide 2.0% (Trusopt, Merck) to determine which was the most efficacious and cost-effective drug for adjunct therapy. The study focused on patients with inadequately controlled IOP, he said.
One hundred and six patients were split into two groups and took respective medication over a 3-month period, he said.
Results showed that brimonidine lowered IOP thereby decreasing the patient’s health care costs by 55% compared with dorzolamide. Dr. Torsten believes this finding could be applicable in other European countries.
In a similar study conducted in Austria and Finland, Dr. Poulsen compared the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of bimatoprost 0.03% (Lumigan, Allergan) and latanoprost 0.005% (Xalatan, Pfizer) to determine an affordable second-line therapy. Using data from a retrospective survey, he and colleagues analyzed 269 cases with inadequately controlled IOPs or who were contraindicated for beta-blocker use, he said.
He concluded that bimatoprost is most cost-effective for use as second-line monotherapy if target IOP is not obtained with beta-blockers. Patients on bimatoprost improved by 36% as compared to 22% of those taking latanoprost.
On bimatoprost, patients achieved target pressures between 12 and 18 mm Hg during 12 months.
Frequent follow-up to assess IOP-lowering was more necessary in the latanoprost group, which also increased health care costs, he said.