Shanlian Hu

Estimating the Cost-Effectiveness of the 7-Valent Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine in Shanghai, China

OBJECTIVE The goal of this study was to analyze the economic benefits of introducing the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) into the City Immunity Program in Shanghai. METHODS A decision-analytic model designed for pneumococcal disease and outcomes of pneumococcal infection was populated with local, age-specific incidence and cost data to estimate the expected economic benefits from vaccinating a birth cohort of 172,183 infants in Shanghai over a 1-year period using a cross-sectional approach. The analysis was assumed to occur in a year at which time the direct and indirect effects of vaccination have reached a steady state. Costs were calculated from a payer perspective and included vaccination program costs and direct medical expenditures from pneumococcal-related disease. RESULTS The model predicts that 112,629 cases of pneumococcal-related disease could be prevented during a given year following the introduction of the PCV7 vaccine into the City Immunity Program in Shanghai, leading to a reduction of ¥187,923,359 (US

Economic Burden of Individual Suffering from Atrial Fibrillation-Related Stroke in China

29,067,790) in direct medical costs. Overall, the inclusion of the PCV7 vaccine is estimated to have a cost-per-life-year saved of ¥37,468 (US

Estimated public health impact of nationwide vaccination of infants with 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) in China

5,796) and a cost-per-quality-adjusted-life-year gained of ¥41,603 (US

Applying Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) Simple Scoring as an Evidence-based HTA Methodology for Evaluating Off-Patent Pharmaceuticals (OPPs) in Emerging Markets

6,435) when both the direct and indirect effects of the vaccine resulting from herd protection are taken into account. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that including PCV7 into the City Immunity Program in Shanghai could be considered cost-effective under generally accepted willingness-to-pay thresholds when both the direct and indirect effects of the vaccine are considered in the analysis.

Recent Pricing Negotiations on Innovative Medicines Pilot in China: Experiences, Implications, and Suggestions

OBJECTIVE Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an important risk factor for stroke. The primary purpose of this study was to estimate the 1-year direct and indirect costs of ischemic stroke in Chinese patients with AF. METHOD A total of 300 charts were selected and reviewed in 18 hospitals from neurology departments in six major cities of China nationwide. Patients with primary diagnosis of ischemic stroke and secondary diagnosis of AF were selected for review. A total of 63 patients were selected from the chart review pool and followed up for 1 year to record their resource utilization and absenteeism from work following discharge. RESULTS The mean±SD age of the cohort was 70.2±11.8 years, with an average hospitalization duration of stay of 17.9 days. The mean total direct cost for AF-related stroke was estimated at 30,438.3 China Yuan (CNY) per patient-year. The major cost driver for direct cost was strokes acute hospitalization expense, which accounted for 61.5% (CNY 18,706.1). Among the seven patients not reaching the legal retirement age, the indirect cost per person-year totaled 16,838.9 CNY, most of which (63.0%) was a result of early retirement. The analysis also suggested that higher hospital ranking (based on the tier system), longer hospital stay, higher modified Rankin Scale score, taking surgery during hospitalization, receiving thrombolysis therapy, and incidence of complications such as pneumonia or cerebral edema predicted higher inpatient costs. CONCLUSIONS Hospital costs due to strokes among patients with AF are the predominant contributor to the total direct cost, which is consistent with current hospital-centered treatment pattern in China. However, literature suggested that AF-induced strokes are highly preventable with drugs and clinical procedures, which highlights the importance of optimal clinical management of stroke prevention in patients with AF.

The cost-effectiveness of a NSCLC patient assistance program for pemetrexed maintenance therapy in People's Republic of China

OBJECTIVES The goal of this study was to provide a comprehensive analysis of the potential health impact of universal vaccination of infants with the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV7) in China. METHODS A decision-analytic model designed for pneumococcal disease and outcomes of pneumococcal infection was populated with local age-specific incidence and mortality data to estimate the expected health benefits of vaccinating birth cohorts of approximately 16 million infants per year over a 10-year time horizon in China. The model incorporates both the direct impact on vaccinated children and the indirect effect of herd protection on unvaccinated children and adults. RESULTS The model predicts that more than 16.2 million cases of pneumococcal disease and 709 411 deaths could be prevented in China over the initial 10-year period following the introduction of the PCV7 vaccine. The majority of these health benefits are due to the indirect effectiveness of the vaccine on the unvaccinated population, resulting in approximately 10.8 million cases prevented and 636 371 lives saved over 10 years. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that a policy of universal PCV7 vaccination among infants in China would have a substantial positive public health impact on the population of China.

Economic Impact of Treating Chinese Postmenopausal Women with 17-ß-Estradiol Combined Hormone Replacment Therapy (Hrt) Compared with the Alternative Practices.

Off-patent pharmaceuticals (OPPs) represent more than 60% of the pharmaceutical market in many emerging countries, where they are frequently evaluated primarily on cost rather than with health technology assessment. OPPs are assumed to be identical to the originators. Branded and unbranded generic versions can, however, vary from the originator in active pharmaceutical ingredients, dosage, consistency formulation, excipients, manufacturing processes, and distribution, for example. These variables can alter the efficacy and safety of the product, negatively impacting both the anticipated cost savings and the populations health. In addition, many health care systems lack the resources or expertise to evaluate such products, and current assessment methods can be complex and difficult to adapt to a health systems needs. Multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) simple scoring is an evidence-based health technology assessment methodology for evaluating OPPs, especially in emerging countries in which resources are limited but decision makers still must balance affordability with factors such as drug safety, level interchangeability, manufacturing site and active pharmaceutical ingredient quality, supply track record, and real-life outcomes. MCDA simple scoring can be applied to pharmaceutical pricing, reimbursement, formulary listing, and drug procurement. In November 2015, a workshop was held at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research Annual Meeting in Milan to refine and prioritize criteria that can be used in MCDA simple scoring for OPPs, resulting in an example MCDA process and 22 prioritized criteria that health care systems in emerging countries can easily adapt to their own decision-making processes.

PCASE4 HOW TO IMPLEMENT NATIONAL ESSENTIAL MEDICINE LIST IN SHANGHAI: PROS & CONS

The China National Formulary (CNF) for reimbursable drug use, also known as the National Reimbursement Drug List (NRDL), was formally established in 2000, revised in 2004 and 2009, and covers 52% of Chinas population under the government urban health insurance programs. A third major and long-awaited update to the formulary was completed in February 2017 based on intensive reviews by a group of experts in medicine, pharmacology, health economics, and health policy. Shortly after this major update, a pilot project at the central government level was implemented for negotiations mainly on innovative but expensive medicines that were still outside the National Formulary. The pilot, conducted between March and July 2017, eventually reached an overall agreement rate of 81.8% regarding approved indications and drug prices between Chinas government and the pharmaceutical companies. This pilot showcased numerous leading edge features including a working definition of innovative medicines and opportunities to submit dossiers on drug clinical and economic information. This pilot covered 44 medications for negotiations in a breakthrough attempt to increase the appropriate access to innovative but expensive medicines. The implications to the future of the CNF go beyond the drugs included in the pilot. This paper describes the background of the CNF and the negotiation pilot. In addition, authors of this paper make six recommendations critical to CNF future developments, including enhancing criteria and process for evaluations, standardizing the dossier format, specifying data requirements, refining pricing calculation, and cultivating evaluation professional development.

A Case Study of Pharmaceutical Pricing in China: Setting the Price for Off-Patent Originators

Background Eli Lilly and the China Primary Health Care Foundation are currently implementing a patient assistance program (PAP) in China, which allows first-line nonsquamous non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients who complete four cycles of pemetrexed induction therapy to receive free, continuous pemetrexed maintenance therapy. Objective To estimate the cost-effectiveness of pemetrexed maintenance therapy vs basic standard care (BSC) and the economic impacts of providing a PAP for pemetrexed maintenance therapy to NSCLC patients who have completed pemetrexed induction therapy in a Chinese health care setting. Methods We developed a novel decision-analytic model to evaluate the long-term costs and clinical efficacy of pemetrexed plus BSC vs BSC alone. We utilized a three-state (progression-free survival, progressed disease, and dead) partition survival model for both the clinical and economic aspects of the analysis. Cost and health utility estimates were derived from the literature. We performed a scenario analysis to estimate the real-world impact of introducing the PAP in China by comparing the use of the PAP vs non-PAP. Model uncertainty was evaluated using one-way and multivariate probabilistic sensitivity analysis. Results Compared to BSC, pemetrexed plus BSC resulted in a gain of 0.22 years of life (95% credible range [CR]: 0.04–0.46) and 0.13 quality-adjusted life years (95% CR: 0.04–0.26) per patient, at an increased cost of

A Novel Estimation of the Impact of Treatment with Entecavir on Long-Term Mortality, Morbidity, and Health Care Costs of Chronic Hepatitis B in China

28,105 (95% CR: −