Impact of newer direct-acting antiviral drugs based on quality-adjusted life years: A prospective pharmacoeconomic study in hepatitis C patients

CONTEXT: The Indian government is dispensing newer direct-acting antiviral (DAA) drugs, which may have impact on hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients’ quality of life (QoL). AIMS: To evaluate different DAA regimens and impact on QoL in terms of quality-adjusted life year (QALY) in HCV patients and to measure cost-effectiveness. METHODS: This prospective, observational study was carried out on patients who were diagnosed with HCV. Recruited patients were followed up until 12–24 weeks. Patients were recruited following the selection criteria. Along with demographic and drug details, the regimens used were analyzed and evaluated for cost minimization, cost-effectiveness, and cost–utility analysis. For health quality check, the Chronic Liver Disease questionnaire (CLDQ) was used which was also used for QALY assessment. Data were entered into MS Excel 2016. Difference in between the regimens for total cost was done using unpaired t-test and ANOVA test using SPSS 25.0. Overall cost-effectiveness, cost minimization, cost utility and cost of illness analysis was also calculated. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: A total of 31 patients were enrolled. A total of five drugs, namely, sofosbuvir, daclatasvir, ribavirin, velpatasvir, and ledipasvir were widely used. Sofosbuvir was most common (46.25%)component of drug combination in our study. A total of five types of regimen were used according to the genotype of patients. With 44,260.13 ± 15,884.92 INR of the total drug cost, 70.97% of patients spent around 30,000–40,000 INR for the whole pharmacotherapy. The total indirect cost was 2768.39 ± 3916.13 INR with the total direct cost of 48,660.90 ± 15,356.39 INR. The total cost including direct as well as indirect cost spent during 6-month therapy by 61.29% of patients was 40,000–50,000 INR. Based on the CLDQ score, QoL was 64.1 ± 25. Regimen 2 (sofosbuvir + velpatasavir) stood out with the lowest cost. Regimen 5 (ribavirin [200 mg] + sofosbuvir [400 mg] + velpatasvir [100 mg]) was found to be the most cost-effective. Considering 1 life year with good health after treatment, QALY was 0.31. CONCLUSIONS: Ribavirin (200 mg) + sofosbuvir (400 mg) + velpatasvir (100 mg) was found to be the cost-effective and cost-saving regimen among DAAs.