PCN72 COMPARATIVE COST ANALYSIS OF SUBCUTANEOUS TRASTUZUMAB ORIGINATOR (HERCEPTIN®) VS INTRAVENOUS TRASTUZUMAB BIOSIMILAR (KANJINTI) FROM A HOSPITAL PERSPECTIVE IN ITALY

Abstract

The recent approval of the intravenous (IV) formulation of Kanjinti, biosimilar of Herceptin® (trastuzumab), offers patients suffering from HER2-positive early and metastatic breast cancer and metastatic gastric cancer an additional effective treatment option. Subcutaneous (SC) formulations of a medicine are generally perceived as more economic compared to IV mainly due to limited drug preparation time. The aim of this analysis was to compare the total medical costs for a hospital of treatment with subcutaneously injected Herceptin® and intravenously infused Kanjinti. A cost comparison model was developed to estimate the costs from a hospital perspective for 20 patients treated with both therapies over a 17-cycle period. The costs were collected in a single hospital institution in Italy and included drug acquisition and administration costs, consumables and compensation for the pharmacist’s time. For Kanjinti, the 420 mg pack was considered and public drug prices were used. Drug administration was reimbursed by the diagnosis-related group (DRG), which was the same for both SC and IV. Over 17 treatment cycles, the total costs with Kanjinti were estimated at €8,499 per patient vs. €17,929 with Herceptin® SC. Drug costs were the primary results driver (€12,012 vs. €21,497 with Kanjinti vs. Herceptin® SC, respectively), while pharmacist’s time and consumables comprised only a fraction of the total costs (1.5% vs. 0.4%, respectively). For the 20 patients considered per treatment option, the total costs with Kanjinti and Herceptin® SC amounted to €239,110 and €427,698, respectively, of which €2,508 and €1,393 were ancillary. The results of the present analysis suggest that when all relevant medical costs are considered, treatment with Kanjinti is associated with significant hospital budget savings compared to treatment with Herceptin® SC, contributing to longer term sustainability of the healthcare spending.