Kevzara More Cost-Effective Among Effectively Treated Patients Compared to Humira

A poster presented at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting demonstrated that incremental costs per effectively treated patient with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were lower among patients who used Kevzara (sarilumab; Sanofi) compared to Humira (adalimumab; AbbVie).

“The MONARCH study evaluated monotherapy with [Kevzara] 200 mg subcutaneous plus placebo every 2 weeks vs [Humira] 40 mg subcutaneous plus placebo every 2 weeks in RA patients who were either intolerant of, inadequate responders to, or considered inappropriate candidates for continued treatment with methotrexate,” Kaleb Michaud, PhD, associate professor of internal medicine in the division of rheumatology at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, and colleagues at Sanofi and Regeneron, wrote in the study. “This analysis examined 24-week per-patient drug costs associated with effective treatment, based on outcomes from MONARCH.”

The researchers measured ACR20, ACR50, and EULAR Moderate/Good scores at 24 weeks. These data were considered with costs per responder data for each outcome and incremental cost per effectively treated patient using the 2017 list prices for both drugs. The researchers also conducted a one-way sensitivity analysis using a variety of methods, including increasing and decreasing Kevzara costs by 10%. The researchers compared a cohort of 184 patients taking Kevzara to a cohort of 185 patients taking Humira.

Dr Michaud and colleagues found that compared to a $26,647 2-week supply of Humira, an $18,000 2-week supply of Kevzara was less costly per effectively treated patient. Comparatively, Kevzara had a cost per responder of  $25,105 compared to $45,629 on the ACR20 response criteria. Likewise, for the ACR50 response criteria, Kevzara had a price of $39,387 per responder vs $89,722 for Humira. Finally, EULAR DAS28-ESR responders cost $21,378 with Kevzara compared to $37,584 for Humira.

“[Kevzara] was consistently the more effective and cost-saving treatment on all outcomes of incremental cost per effectively treated patient,” the researchers wrote.

This study was funded by Sanofi Regeneron and the authors disclosed relationships with Sanofi, Regeneron, and Pfizer.

—David Costill

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