Economic evaluation of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 inhibitors in advanced hormonal receptor-positive and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative breast cancer: a nationwide budget impact analysis.

Abstract

Background: Several trials demonstrated improvements in clinical outcomes associated with cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors in breast cancer patients. The challenge remains regarding their high costs. Ribociclib and Abemaciclib are cost-effective in Qatar. Yet, their affordability was not studied. This budget impact analysis (BIA) is to assess the affordability of adopting CDK4/6 inhibitors in Qatar over five years duration (2024-2028).

Methods: We ran a BIA to evaluate two scenarios: (1) Increasing abemaciclib's market share from 20% to 60%, replacing both palbociclib and ribociclib. (2) Assuming equal market share for both ribociclib and abemaciclib up to 80%, reducing palbociclib's share. The analysis considered treatment costs, patient population, and disease prevalence. All data were retrieved from the National Center for Cancer Care and Research, and costs were presented in Qatari Riyals (QAR). Sensitivity analyses were run to ensure the robustness of the conclusion. All results were compared to Qatar's budget threshold, which is QAR 453,822.

Results: Based on a total of 173 patients using CDK4/6 inhibitors, increasing abemaciclib's market share to 60% yielded cumulative savings of QAR 14 million over five years, which is around QAR 14,613 per patient per year. However, equally increasing ribociclib's and abemaciclib's market share to 80% resulted in a modest budget increase, remaining within acceptable thresholds. Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings, showing that cost reductions and higher uptake rates further enhanced savings.

Conclusion: Abemaciclib is a budget-saving option for HR+/HER2- breast cancer in Qatar, should it replace the market share by up to 60% over five years. In addition, ribociclib and abemaciclib are affordable treatment options if they equally contributes to up to 80% of the market share for the eligible advanced breast cancer patients. The results supported the concept of allocating CDK4/6 inhibitors as they were found to be affordable to the Qatari healthcare system.