Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Patiromer in Combination with Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System Inhibitors for Chronic Kidney Disease in Sweden

Objectives Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are commonly treated with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASi) in order to delay progression of renal disease. However, research has shown that RAASi in CKD patients increases hyperkalaemia (HK) prevalence, which leads to RAASi discontinuation or dose reduction with the loss of benefits on the kidney. Patiromer is a novel therapy for HK treatment and may enable patients to remain on their RAASi regimen. This study aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of patiromer from a Swedish healthcare perspective. Methods A Markov model was developed to evaluate the economic outcomes of patiromer versus no patiromer in HK patients with stage 3-4 CKD taking RAASi. The model consisted of six health states reflecting disease progression and hospitalisations. The analysis mainly considered clinical data from the OPAL-HK trial and national costs. The main outcomes of interest were incremental costs (euro [EUR] 2016) and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), discounted at 3%, and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Extensive uncertainty analyses were performed. Results In comparison to no patiromer, a patiromer patient gained 0.14 QALYs and an incremental cost of EUR 6109 (Swedish krona [SEK] 57,850), yielding an ICER of EUR 43,307 (SEK 410,072)/QALY gained. The results were robust to a range of sensitivity analyses. At a willingness-to-pay threshold of EUR 52,804 (SEK 500,000)/QALY, patiromer had a 50% chance of being cost-effective. Conclusions The results indicate that patiromer may demonstrate value for money in Swedish patients with stage 3-4 CKD, by enabling RAASi treatment. However, there is a considerable degree of uncertainty.