Implications of Co-Dependent Technologies in Medicine
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This document discusses frameworks for assessing the value of co-dependent technologies, such as diagnostic and treatment pairs. It defines co-dependent technologies as those used together to achieve clinical benefits. The value created by co-dependent technologies is difficult to attribute to the diagnostic or treatment alone. The document outlines five ways that diagnostic-treatment pairs can create value: by reducing adverse effects, reducing time delays in optimal treatment selection, increasing adherence to treatment, enabling treatments for small subsets of patients, and reducing uncertainty about treatment value. It also discusses factors that affect the value of co-dependent technologies and international experiences with health technology assessment of these pairs.
![References
Garau, M., Towse, A., Garrison, L., Housman, L., and Ossa, D. (2012)
Can and should value based pricing be applied to molecular
diagnostics? Research paper 12/03. London: Office of Health
Economics [available free at www.ohe.org]
Garrison, L.P. and Austin, M.J.F. (2007) The economics of personalized
medicine: A model of incentives for value creation and capture. Drug
Information Journal. 41(4), 501-509.
Merlin, T. et al. (2012) Assessing personalized medicines in Australia: A
national framework for reviewing codependent technologies. Medical
Decision Making. Online before print: doi:10.1177/0272989X12452341](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/implicationsofco-dependenttechnologiesinmedicinegarautowsenov2012-121228122216-phpapp01/85/Implications-of-Co-Dependent-Technologies-in-Medicine-16-320.jpg)
Implications of Co-Dependent Technologies in Medicine
- 1. Assessment of Co-Dependent Technologies Martina Garau and Adrian Towse Office of Health Economics ISPOR 15th Annual European Congress Berlin, Germany 6 November 2012
- 2. Definition of co-dependent technologies • Technologies, such as diagnostic- treatments (Dx-Tx) pairs, to use in combination to achieve or improve clinical benefits • In particular, a diagnostic test (Dx) can be used to identify patients most likely to: • Respond or to fail to respond to a drug (personalised medicine) • Exhibit adverse events But also can be used to: • Monitor responses to drugs • Determine the risk of developing a disease
- 3. The issue of attribution of value of co- dependent technologies • The value created is a “joint product” and there are no rules for the attribution of the value to one or the other • Garrison and Austin (2007) pointed out that how value is allocated across patients, payers, Dx manufactures and Tx manufacturers depends on the institutional context • E.g. whether the Tx was priced before the Dx was available, the relative strength of intellectual property protection for Dx and Tx • This will have consequences in terms of incentives for evidence generation and subsequent innovation
- 4. Framework to assess value of co-dependent technologies 1. Reducing drug adverse effects 2. Reducing 5.Reducing time delays uncertainty in selecting about value optimal Tx Value 4. Enabling Tx 3.Increasing effective in a small fraction adherence to be made or available willingness to start Tx
- 5. 1. Reducing or avoiding drug adverse effects Availability of Dx can improve average benefit-risk ratio so, depending on the severity of side effects, • Tx obtains marketing authorisation, or • Use of a licensed Tx in clinical practice increases Example • HLA-B*5701 is an allele associated with hypersensitivity to abacavir for HIV-1 • Identification of the marker has increased prescribing of abacavir, which now is recommended for HLA-B*5701- negative patients in European and US guidelines
- 6. 2. Reducing time delays in selecting optimal Tx Identifying non-responders and switching them to an alternative treatment regime/care can • Improve survival and/or quality of life (particularly in diseases at advanced stages) • Avoid or reduce the cost of treating non-responders • Avoid or reduce inconvenience to patients Example • BCR-ABL test identify chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) patients who are receiving treatment but not responding to it. • Can prevent the disease from progressing to blast crisis and death; allows ceasing first-line treatment when no longer effective
- 7. 3.Increasing adherence or willingness to undertake Tx or other interventions Patients are more motivated if they know (ex-ante) the intervention is likely to work Issue of non-responders who might experience disutility (they can feel ‘left-behind’) Example • PreDx Diabetes Risk test estimates the patient’s risk for developing Type 2 diabetes over the next five years • This can help encourage patients to follow a healthy lifestyle and take other preventive measures.
- 8. 4. Enabling Tx effective in a small fraction to be made available A biomarker or other genetic characteristic allowing for patient stratification can • “Rescue” Tx that otherwise may either not have been licensed or have been withdrawn • Increase the chance of a Tx meeting reimbursement criteria (if targeting responders improves cost effectiveness) • Accelerate R&D process of Tx (if stratification ascertained at an early development stage)
- 9. 4. Enabling Tx effective in a small fraction to be made available: examples • Gefitinib for non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) initially licensed, then withdrawn when Phase III failed to show a survival benefit. With the identification of EGFR mutations and its association with response rate to TKIs, gefitinib was approved in the EU and other markets in combination with the EGFR mutation test. • NICE recommended trastuzumab for advanced and early-stage breast cancer in HER2/neu positive patients identified with HER2/neu test . The Dx-Tx cost per QALY was found below the standard threshold. • Crizotinib targets a small subset of NSCLC patients with an ALK-positive molecular abnormality. The development of the ALK FISH test has accelerated the development process and increased the likelihood of crizotinib delivering health benefits and commercial value
- 10. 5.Reducing uncertainty about value • Uncertainty around expected health effects and costs. It influences the risk of poor value for money for payers • Value of information to patients as to their medical condition independent of the health outcomes • Effect of reassurance, reduction in patients’ anxiety (measured by EQ- 5D?) • Dx results also can enable lifestyle choices and planning • Example • Oncotype DX ® and MammaPrint ® are multi-gene assays estimating the risk of recurrence in breast cancer patients following surgery • They can guide intervention decisions and reduce the risk of dispensing unnecessary chemotherapy (reduce resource costs to the health care system and adverse effect for the patient)
- 11. Other factors affecting value of combined use of Dx-Tx • Low accuracy of Dx will decrease potential net gains to patients and health care system • False positive and false negative patients will miss the opportunity to receive a clinical decision from which they can benefit • Impact of misdiagnosis varies depending on the location in the treatment pathway (1st line, 2nd, last line) and the effectiveness of the alternative intervention/s • If the Tx is licenced also for un-tested populations, Tx can be more cost effective when used on its own: • When Dx does not provide binary response, if the size of the subset for which the Dx does not provide clear-cut result is large relatively to the other two subsets and the Dx cost is high compared to the Tx cost • When Dx is not accurate
- 12. Proposed institutional processes for co-dependent technologies • A joint Dx-Tx review of “at launch” technologies, to be done by a drug committee to exploit synergies across Dx and Tx • However, need to address the lack of expertise of most drug committees in the Dx area • A separate Dx committee to develop Dx-specific expertise and to assess multiple tests with similar clinical use • However, may be a trade-off if there are not enough decisions to justify a distinct committee • A comprehensive and consistent approach to assessing value of both Dx and Tx
- 13. International experience: The case of Australia • Until now, Dx and associated Tx assessed via different committees (MSAC and PBAC) • No clear structure for consideration of the interactions and benefits from joint use • New coordinated process and decision framework for “co-dependent technologies” • “Integrated” applications combining information from Dx and Tx manufacturers • Reimbursement decisions are made jointly by PBAC and MSAC to ensure optimal clinical use (Merlin et al., 2012)
- 14. International experience: The case of NICE in England and Wales • NICE has dedicated-process for stand-alone Dx, which follows that used for drugs very closely • Strong preference for measuring health gains with the QALY • Value dimensions beyond health effects, such as value of information to patients and process-related benefits, are not factored in explicitly • “At launch” combinations are appraised via the drug review programme (TAs) • No explicit consideration of test-related parameters (accuracy, costs) • Value dimensions beyond health effects are not factored in explicitly
- 15. Conclusions • The use of Dx-Tx combinations can deliver health gains and cost savings within the healthcare systems but also generate broader benefits to patients and society • To ensure efficient use of limited resources health decision makers should take account of the full value generated by health technologies • Clear incentives need to be created to encourage evidence collection • HTA and other decision making systems need coordinated and consistent approach to assessing value of Dx and Tx
- 16. References Garau, M., Towse, A., Garrison, L., Housman, L., and Ossa, D. (2012) Can and should value based pricing be applied to molecular diagnostics? Research paper 12/03. London: Office of Health Economics [available free at www.ohe.org] Garrison, L.P. and Austin, M.J.F. (2007) The economics of personalized medicine: A model of incentives for value creation and capture. Drug Information Journal. 41(4), 501-509. Merlin, T. et al. (2012) Assessing personalized medicines in Australia: A national framework for reviewing codependent technologies. Medical Decision Making. Online before print: doi:10.1177/0272989X12452341
- 17. To enquire about additional information and analyses, please contact Martina Garau at mgarau@ohe.org To keep up with the latest news and research, subscribe to our blog, OHE News Follow us on Twitter @OHENews, LinkedIn and SlideShare Office of Health Economics (OHE) Southside, 7th Floor 105 Victoria Street London SW1E 6QT United Kingdom +44 20 7747 8850 www.ohe.org OHE’s publications may be downloaded free of charge for registered users of its website. ©2012 OHE