EE232 Impact of Updated Mortality Estimates on the Cost-Effectiveness of Rifaximin for the Treatment of Patients with Overt Hepatic Encephalopathy

Abstract

Rifaximin is the only United States (US) Food and Drug Administration approved therapy for reducing the risk of recurrent overt hepatic encephalopathy (OHE) in adults. A study by Jesudian AB et al. (2020) showed that rifaximin ± lactulose (vs. lactulose monotherapy) is cost-effective (incremental cost-effectiveness ratio [ICER] of $29,161/quality adjusted life years [QALY] gained). The authors used mortality estimates from a single-arm, open-label study. The objectives of the current study were to: 1) identify updated rifaximin-associated OHE mortality estimates for US patients and; 2) conduct scenario analyses to assess the robustness of the original model by measuring the impact of assuming no/updated mortality estimates on the ICER of rifaximin for OHE.