Case 2: Drug selection in treatment of migraine-Triptan
Migraine is a severe headache felt as a throbbing pain at the front or side of the head. Triptan, the 5-hydroxytryptamine agonists are widely used as first-line abortive therapies for migraine headache patients. The currently available triptans offer clear evidence of improved clinical and economic outcomes compared with previous anti-migraine therapies, such as ergotamine alkaloids. However, the clinical and economic benefits of triptans are ambiguous.
Hence, a triptan case study was carried out to introduce a systematic methodology to assist formulary decision makers in evaluating the cost-effectiveness of drugs within a category based on readily available data. Pharmacoeconomic principles were applied for adding triptans to a formulary.
Epidemiology and Economic Impact of Migraine
Migraine is a disorder that affects ~28 million …show more content…
market. The products are categorized according to their various dosage forms.
In a comparison of two-hour efficacy, zolmitriptan was the clear favorite (dominant) agent between the two available nasal sprays because it was less expensive and its efficacy rate was higher than that of sumatriptan. Among the oral agents, rizatriptan had the lowest average cost-efficacy ratio and frovatriptan had the highest. Of the two disintegrating tablets, zolmitriptan exhibited the lower cost-efficacious ratio compared with rizatriptan.
Although sumatriptan injection was the least cost-efficacious triptan treatment available because of its increased efficacy and a lack of any other competitors, its inclusion on formularies might be warranted for use in special populations who are unable to take oral medications or who are willing to pay an additional co-payment for longer migraine relief. Incremental cost-efficacy (ICE) analyses were performed to determine the additional cost per additional gain in
Migraine is a severe headache felt as a throbbing pain at the front or side of the head. Triptan, the 5-hydroxytryptamine agonists are widely used as first-line abortive therapies for migraine headache patients. The currently available triptans offer clear evidence of improved clinical and economic outcomes compared with previous anti-migraine therapies, such as ergotamine alkaloids. However, the clinical and economic benefits of triptans are ambiguous.
Hence, a triptan case study was carried out to introduce a systematic methodology to assist formulary decision makers in evaluating the cost-effectiveness of drugs within a category based on readily available data. Pharmacoeconomic principles were applied for adding triptans to a formulary.
Epidemiology and Economic Impact of Migraine
Migraine is a disorder that affects ~28 million …show more content…
market. The products are categorized according to their various dosage forms.
In a comparison of two-hour efficacy, zolmitriptan was the clear favorite (dominant) agent between the two available nasal sprays because it was less expensive and its efficacy rate was higher than that of sumatriptan. Among the oral agents, rizatriptan had the lowest average cost-efficacy ratio and frovatriptan had the highest. Of the two disintegrating tablets, zolmitriptan exhibited the lower cost-efficacious ratio compared with rizatriptan.
Although sumatriptan injection was the least cost-efficacious triptan treatment available because of its increased efficacy and a lack of any other competitors, its inclusion on formularies might be warranted for use in special populations who are unable to take oral medications or who are willing to pay an additional co-payment for longer migraine relief. Incremental cost-efficacy (ICE) analyses were performed to determine the additional cost per additional gain in