Abstract:

INTRODUCTION: Hay fever (allergic rhinoconjunctivitis) is a frequent disease and 12% of the Danish adult population suffer from grass-pollen induced hay fever. Symptomatic medication is the traditional treatment, while immunotherapy with sustained effect is an alternative. Grazax (Phleum pratense, ALK-Abelló) is a new tablet-based vaccination against grass-pollen induced hay fever. The aim was to investigate the cost-effectiveness of the tablet-based vaccination of grass-pollen induced hay fever in Denmark.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Based on a prospective collection of data as part of a clinical trial cost and quality of life (QALY) data for 493 patients, the tablet-based vaccine (Grazax) was compared in a cost-utility analysis (societal perspective) with symptomatic treatment. The analysis was based on three years of immunotherapy followed by six years of sustained effect.

RESULTS: Significant more QALYs were gained from using the tablet-based vaccine (0.9799) compared with traditional symptomatic treatment (0.9567), which with a nine-year time horizon corresponds to 0.19 extra QALYs. The costs of vaccination against hay fever were DKK 34,498. With a nine-year time horizon, the cost per extra QALY from using the tablet-based vaccine was DKK 52,646 or DKK 134,105, focussing on direct costs alone. These results are below the unofficial thresholds for what the costs of a QALY should be.

CONCLUSION: The analysis has shown that tablet-based immunotherapy (Grazax) for the treatment of hay fever results in an improved quality of life and that it is a cost-effective choice.