Cost-Effectiveness of Pembrolizumab Plus Chemotherapy Versus Pembrolizumab Monotherapy in Metastatic Non-Squamous and Squamous NSCLC Patients With PD-L1 Expression ≥ 50

Very Early Health Technology Assessment for Potential Predictive Biomarkers in the Treatment of Advanced Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

OBJECTIVES

Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-containing treatment is currently prescribed as first-line treatment for all patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) without targetable driver mutations. However, only 30-45% of patients show no progression within 12 months after treatment start. Various biomarkers are being studied to save costly and potentially harmful treatment in non-responders. We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of implementing a hypothetical predictive biomarker for ICI-containing treatment response compared with standard of care (e.g., no implemented biomarker) for pembrolizumab-containing treatment in patients with advanced NSCLC in the Netherlands.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Standard-of-care-based and predictive-biomarker-based strategies were compared using Markov models for three first-line pembrolizumab-containing treatments depending on a patient's tumor programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression and histology. A Dutch healthcare system perspective was adopted. Assuming a receiver operating characteristic-area under the curve of 1.0 in identifying responders, alternative treatments were offered for non-responders in the predictive-biomarker-based strategy. Parameters and assumptions were based on real-world data from surveys, literature using a targeted search, expert opinion, and registries. Outcomes included differences in costs, survival (life years (LYs)), and survival corrected for health-related quality of life (QoL) quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) between the predictive-biomarker- and standard-of-care-based strategy.

RESULTS

Implementing a predictive biomarker in pembrolizumab-carboplatin-paclitaxel treatment led to a mean survival reduction of 24 days (- 0.067 LYs) (18 days corrected for QoL (- 0.049 QALYs)), with cost savings of €22,606 compared with standard of care. Pembrolizumab monotherapy and pembrolizumab-pemetrexed-platinum treatments showed survival reductions of 4.5 and 3.9 months, respectively (3.6 and 2.8 months corrected for QoL), with cost savings of €24,345 and €28,456. Sensitivity analyses confirmed consistent cost savings and survival reductions. Survival losses were mainly observed due to the lower survival rates associated with the alternative first-line treatment options available for non-responders in the predictive-biomarker-based strategy within each pembrolizumab-containing treatment regimen. Pembrolizumab-carboplatin-paclitaxel treatment also showed survival gains under certain conditions related to QoL and survival estimates.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study highlights the importance of careful de-implementation of ICI-treatments in advanced NSCLC, balancing costs reductions and side effects without comprising survival. In the pembrolizumab-carboplatin-paclitaxel treatment regimen, the survival loss could be considered negligible. Future research should define acceptable tradeoffs and thresholds for de-implementation, considering factors such as survival of alternative treatments and responder classification to guide predictive biomarker implementation and optimize health resource allocation.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of selpercatinib versus chemotherapy and pembrolizumab in the first-line treatment of rearranged during transfection fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer in the United States

BACKGROUND

Although selpercatinib has shown clinical benefits for rearranged during transfection (RET) fusion-positive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), its cost-effectiveness requires further evaluation.

AIM

This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of selpercatinib versus chemotherapy and pembrolizumab in the first-line treatment of RET fusion-positive NSCLC from the perspective of the United States (US) payer.

METHOD

A partitioned survival model was developed based on data from the LIBRETTO-431 trial. Cost and utility values for the health state were obtained from database data or published literature. The measured outcomes included quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) and the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). One-way sensitivity analysis and probabilistic sensitivity analyses (PSA) were conducted to assess the uncertainty of the model.

RESULTS

Selpercatinib increased QALYs in patients with RET fusion-positive NSCLC by 0.90 compared to chemotherapy plus pembrolizumab, with an additional cost of $542,517.45, resulting in an ICER of $603,286.49/QALY, which exceeded the willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold ($150,000) in the US. One-way sensitivity analysis suggested that the utility of progressed disease, the utility of progression-free survival, the price of selpercatinib, the discount, the price of pemetrexed, and the price of pembrolizumab had the greatest influence on the cost- effectiveness analysis process. In the PSA, 99.9% of the scatter points were distributed above the US WTP threshold of $150,000.

CONCLUSION

From the perspective of the US payer, selpercatinib is not cost-effective compared to chemotherapy and pembrolizumab for first-line treatment in patients with RET fusion-positive NSCLC.

First-line treatments for advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer with immune checkpoint inhibitors plus chemotherapy: a systematic review, network meta-analysis, and cost-effectiveness analysis

Introduction

The combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) and chemotherapy is a promising first-line therapy for patients with advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The cost-effectiveness of combinations with different ICIs is yet to be compared.

Methods

We utilized Bayesian network meta-analyses for the comparisons of overall survival, progression-free survival, and incidence of adverse events of the included treatments in the total population and subgroups with different programmed death-ligand 1 tumor proportional scores (TPS). The cost-effectiveness of the treatments from the perspectives of the US and Chinese healthcare systems was assessed using Markov models.

Results

Three combinations, including pembrolizumab + chemotherapy (PembroC), nivolumab + ipilimumab + chemotherapy (NivoIpiC), and atezolizumab + chemotherapy (AteC), were included in our study. In terms of efficacy, PembroC was most likely to be ranked first for extending progression-free survival (PFS) (93.16%) and overall survival (OS) (90.73%). Nevertheless, from the US perspective, NivoIpiC and PembroC showed incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) of $68,963.1/quality-adjusted life-years (QALY) and $179,355.6/QALY, respectively, compared with AteC. The one-way sensitivity analysis revealed that the results were primarily sensitive to the hazard ratios for OS or the cost of immunotherapy agents. At a willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of $150,000/QALY, NivoIpiC had the highest probability of being cost-effective (63%). As for the Chinese perspective, NivoIpiC and PembroC had ICERs of $145,983.4/QALY and $195,863.3/QALY versus AteC, respectively. The results were primarily sensitive to the HRs for OS. At a WTP threshold of $38,017/QALY, AteC had the highest probability of cost-effectiveness (94%).

Conclusion

Although PembroC has the optimal efficacy, NivoIpiC and AteC were the most favorable treatments in terms of cost-effectiveness for patients with advanced non-squamous NSCLC from the US and Chinese perspectives, respectively.

Cost-effectiveness of immunotherapies for advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer: a systematic review

BACKGROUND

There are differences in the pharmacoeconomics of Immune checkpoint blocking (ICB) therapies for the treatment of lung squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC). However, no corresponding review studies have fully discussed the cost-effectiveness of ICBs in treating LSCC. The aim of this paper is to systematically review and evaluate all available pharmacoeconomic studies of ICBs for LSCC.

METHOD

The inclusion criteria were based on the population, intervention, comparator, outcomes, and study designs. An electronic search was conducted by June 2023, and the following databases were used: PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. Search keywords included 'Carcinoma', Non-Small-Cell Lung', 'Immunotherapy', and 'Economics, Medical'. The primary outcome was the cost-effectiveness analysis of ICB therapy in LSCC patients. Drummond Checklist was used to assess quality problems and possible bias in the study design of included pharmacoeconomic studies.

RESULTS

This review searched 15 articles on the economic evaluation of ICB treatment for LSCC. After a qualitative review of 15 studies, we concluded that nivolumab is more cost-effective as a monotherapy than chemotherapy alone. In the combination regimen, pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy appears to be the most cost-effective option at present, but for Chinese payers with LSCC, locally developed treatments such as sintilimab or toripalimab in combination with chemotherapy are more cost-effective.

DISCUSSION

The inclusion of economic evaluation has heterogeneity in research design and outcomes, which can only support qualitative synthesis. Therefore, The results of this paper need to be treated with caution. For the Chinese market, instead of imported drugs, the possible cost-effectiveness of locally developed ICB therapies should be the focus of future research.