Lacosamide demonstrates potential cost savings as add-on seizure therapy

Lacosamide (Vimpat, UCB) appears both cost- and utility-effective as an add-on therapy for adults with uncontrolled partial-onset seizure, according to a pharmacoeconomics analyses that was recently presented at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics Research.

Lacosamide was FDA approved in 2008 as an adjunctive therapy for the treatment of partial-onset seizures in patients aged 17 years and older with epilepsy. Lacosamide became available in the United States in May 2009 as tablet and intravenous formulations. In 2010, lacosamide was approved as an oral solution.

The study included more than 5 years of published safety and efficacy data from 2 pivotal, multinational, clinical trials supporting long-term use of lacosamide. Researchers used a simulated pharmacoeconomic model to analyze standard antiepileptic drug therapy with and without lacosamide as add-on therapy in a hypothetical cohort of 1,000 adults with uncontrolled partial onset seizures from the third-party payer perspective in the United States. Standard cost- and utility-effectiveness ratios were calculated based on 2 years of therapy compared with five other standard therapies: carbamazepine, lamotrigine, levetiracetam, topiramate, and valproate.

The analysis found that treatment with lacosamide was associated with an incremental gain of 6,730 avoided seizures and 38 quality-adjusted life years (QALY), an estimated $223 to $733 saved per seizure, and an estimated $39,574 per QALY gained.

In addition, the willingness-to-pay threshold ($50,000 per QALY) for lacosamide was met in 77% of patient simulations after 2 years of treatment.

“Cost- and utility-effectiveness analyses help to quantify the economic rationale for a treatment, which is an important factor in evaluating the use of a potential therapy,” said Hicham Benhaddi, senior health economist at UCB in a press release issued by the company. “These findings provide additional support for lacosamide’s utility as an antiepileptic drug in the reimbursement community, and among healthcare professionals and patients.”