Eliquis More Cost-Effective Than Warfarin Among Elderly With NVAFf

According to a presentation at the American Heart Association 2016 Scientific Sessions, use of Eliquis (apixaban; Bristol-Myers Squibb) was associated with lower costs and less use of health care resources among elderly patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF), when compared to warfarin. 

“In the real-world setting after controlling for differences in patient characteristics, apixaban vs warfarin usage is generally associated with lower health care resource utilization and costs for all causes and bleeding-related services among elderly NVAF patients,” Steven Deitelzweig, MD, chair of the department of hospital medicine at the Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, and colleagues wrote in their study.

The researchers studied 14,154 patients aged older that 65 years; 7077 patients were treated with Eliquis and 7077 were treated with warfarin. All study participants had NVAF diagnosis and were enrolled in a health plan for a continuous 12 months. The researchers used propensity score matching to compare health care resource utilization and cost data at study conclusion to the data gathered at baseline, between both study groups.

Study results showed that the Mean Charlson Comorbidity Index scores in the Eliquis group were lower compared to the warfarin group (2.7 vs 3.0). The CHADS2 scores and HAS-BLED scores were also lower in the Eliquis group. 

The researchers also found that Eliquis had significantly higher pharmacy costs; however, overall health care resource utilization and total all-cause costs were lower when compared to warfarin. Per-patient per-year pharmacy costs were $7002 compared to $3388 for warfarin.

Costs associated with inpatient care, outpatient care, and major bleeding were all lower in the Eliquis group. Per-patient per-year inpatient care costs in the Eliquis group were $8937 vs $14,603 in the warfarin group. Total costs were estimated at $26,359 for Eliquis compared to $30,278 for warfarin. —David Costill