Pharmacoeconomics analysis of using a fixed combination of budesonide/formoterol in patients with asthma in the health care system of the Russian Federation

Aim. To evaluate the budgetary impact of using budesonide + formoterol (Symbicort^® Turbuhaler^®) as maintenance therapy in real clinical practice compared with standard therapy for asthma of varying severity: for mild asthma with on-demand salbutamol; for moderate and severe asthma – with the drug salmeterol + fluticasone and salbutamol on demand.

Materials and methods. A static mathematical model was built to assess the impact on the budget when introducing the drug budesonide + formoterol (Symbicort^® Turbuhaler^®) in the treatment of asthma into clinical practice from the point of view of the state. Demographic data was taken from the official data of the Federal State Statistics Service. Direct medical costs included the cost of medicines, the cost of hospitalization of patients associated with the development of asthma exacerbations, and the cost of scheduled outpatient visits. Indirect costs considered the loss of GDP due to hospitalization of patients against the background of asthma exacerbations. A one-way sensitivity analysis was performed to confirm the robustness of the study results.

Results. Assessment of direct costs in the treatment of mild, moderate and severe asthma showed that a gradual increase in the proportion of patients receiving the drug budesonide + formoterol (Symbicort^® Turbuhaler^®) over the years to 5.5, 7.7 and 9.7% accordingly, led to an increase in the cost of pharmacotherapy over 3 years by 1.7 billion rubles, while direct non-drug costs associated with the treatment of complications that developed during the treatment of asthma decreased by 8.3 billion rubles. Thus, the reduction in total direct costs amounted to RUB 6.7 billion. At the same time, indirect costs decreased by 6.0 billion rubles. The total reduction in all costs (direct and indirect) when switching patients to budesonide + formoterol (Symbicort^® Turbuhaler^®) amounted to 12.5 billion rubles. In addition, the use of the drug budesonide + formoterol (Symbicort^® Turbuhaler^®) resulted in a decrease in the number of exacerbations: in the first year by 3137, in the second by 4393 and in the third by 5534 cases. A total of 13 064 asthma exacerbations were prevented over 3 years.

Conclusion. Increasing the proportion of patients with asthma of varying severity receiving therapy with budesonide + formoterol (Symbicort^® Turbuhaler^®) will reduce the financial burden on both the healthcare system and the budgetary system.