A Framework for a Health Economic Evaluation Model for Patients with Sickle Cell Disease to Estimate the Value of New Treatments in the United States of America

BACKGROUND: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited blood disorder associated with lifelong morbidity and increased risk of mortality that affects approximately 100,000 individuals in the United States (US), primarily of African–American descent. Due to these complications, individuals with SCD typically incur high healthcare costs. With a number of costly but potentially curative SCD therapies on the horizon, understanding the progression of SCD and economic burden to insurers and patients is vital. OBJECTIVE: The aim is to develop a framework to understand the progression and costs of SCD that could be used to estimate how new treatments can impact the progression and costs of the disease. METHODS: We detail how we will create a simulation model that represents the natural history of a population and allows for the characterization of the impact of novel therapies on the disease, associated costs, and outcomes in comparison to current management. CONCLUSION: In this report, we describe a conceptual approach to modeling SCD to determine the relative clinical and economic impact of new gene therapies compared to conventional therapies with a goal of providing a flexible approach that could inform the clinical management of SCD for patients, payers, and policy makers.