Cost-Effectiveness of Oral Nirmatrelvir/Ritonavir in Patients At High Risk for Progression to Severe COVID-19 in the United States

Nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (NMV/r) is an oral antiviral indicated for the treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in individuals at a high risk of severe illness. Using a cost-effectiveness model, we evaluated the costs and health outcomes of NMV/r compared to best supportive care from a US health sector perspective using a short-term decision tree (1 year) followed by a lifetime two-state Markov model (alive/dead).

Our analysis indicates that treatment with NMV/r reduced COVID-19-related hospitalizations, increased quality-adjusted life years (QALYs), and reduced hospitalization costs vs best supportive care, while increasing total treatment costs. Results were robust to sensitivity analyses, including varying key parameters such as the baseline hospitalization rate of untreated patients and NMV/r effectiveness in reducing hospitalization.

These findings suggest that NMV/r may be a beneficial option for treating patients at high-risk for severe COVID-19 in the US.

Find the full article here: https://www.valueinhealthjournal.com/article/S1098-3015(23)06194-6/pdf?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS1098301523061946%3Fshowall%3Dtrue