Search

Objective: This study aims to estimate the budget impact of luspatercept reimbursement as an adjuvant to the standard management of β-thalassaemia major in Cyprus, from a societal perspective, and assess the financial feasibility of its inclusion in the β-thalassaemia armamentarium. Methods: A 5-year horizon budget impact model was developed to determine the budget impact of reimbursing luspatercept for the management of β-thalassaemia major in Cyprus. Two treatment discontinuation scenarios were elaborated. In the first scenario, luspatercept is reimbursed complementary to best supportive care, and a dropout rate of 40% is assumed based on published real-world data, while for the second scenario a dropout rate of 25%, is assumed as per the clinical trial data. Input parameters were retrieved from the phase III clinical trial of luspatercept, literature, and expert opinion consensus. One-way sensitivity analyses were conducted for both scenarios. Results: The addition of luspatercept to the standard management of β-thalassaemia major in Cyprus imparted an incremental budget impact ranging from €21,300,643 to €25,834,368, depending on the drop-out rate scenario assumed. Results were sensitive to the number of eligible patients and dose per patient. Conclusion: The potential reimbursement of luspatercept will wield a substantial impact on Cyprus total pharmaceutical expenditure and it is therefore imperative to affix a reimbursement framework that will allow the payer to mitigate uncertainty stemming out of the scarce clinical data and the inherently complex therapeutic landscape of β-thalassemia management.

Systemic lupus erythematosus is a heterogeneous, multisystem autoimmune disease. These attributes cause lupus to be a challenging condition to adequately manage, which is further aggravated by the lack of treatment modalities. Belimumab is a full human monoclonal antibody, and its safety and efficacy in lupus management have been demonstrated in a number of randomized clinical trials. However, these gains come at a high cost in an era that is demarcated by soaring pharmaceutical expenditure. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to critically assess the economic evaluations of belimumab.

This paper performs price comparisons of branded pharmaceutical products in markets of eleven European Union countries. We follow a Laspeyres index approach, using Cyprus as the base country and analyse prices in the private and public markets and also consider biotechnology products separately. We find that Germany, Denmark and Austria demonstrate the highest pharmaceutical prices in the EU, followed by Cyprus. When adjusting for per capita income, Cyprus demonstrates the highest prices. Given that there is no universal health insurance in Cyprus, and that the country recently faced a financial crisis, our findings underline possible affordability problems for patients. In order to remove barriers to access to medicines, pharmaceutical pricing regulation could be adjusted and price revisions should take place more frequently, and, most importantly, Cyprus must move in the direction of adopting universal health insurance.

•With an increasing percentage of the population presenting with atrial fibrillation, a long-term anticoagulation treatment is needed in order to prevent the complications that stem out of this health condition.•We created an indirect treatment network utilising direct and indirect evidence, to compare the efficacy between the current benchmark, warfarin, and the new category, Xa inhibitors.•Evidence suggests that the new category can offer significant benefits to patients and satisfy a previously unmet clinical need.•We also noted differences among the new agents, both in safety and efficacy.

Cyprus entered a prolonged financial recession, which escalated to a bailout agreement with a team of international lenders. This rendered as prerequisites structural reforms aiming to enhance efficiency of the system.

Laboratory tests have progressively acquired a dominant role in screening, diagnosis, disease monitoring and outcome assessment. This trend has also adversely led to the inappropriate ordering of laboratory tests, the results of which are highly unlikely to establish or change diagnosis, and, in extent, influence the treatment decision-making of a specific disease. This practice raises the cost of healthcare while it exposes patients to unjustified risk as healthcare professionals may be led to perform unnecessary procedures.

Background:Soaring health expenditures worldwide call for potent cost-containment approaches. Global budgets have been used by several countries to harness their health expenditures by constraining the total payable amount to a predefined budget threshold. Objectives:Cyprus is vacillating on the use of a global budget for its National Health System; nevertheless, its attributes must be scrutinized to rule out potential adverse effects on quality of care and access of patients. The delegation of budget across providers is a context-sensitive process and as such it must be based on historical data and performance incentives as well. Conclusions:A global budget is not a panacea, and consequently the enhancement of health system’s performance, appropriateness assessment, and volume and capacity control measures are incumbent. A global budget demonstrates a higher complexity factor for pharmaceuticals, which mandates a thorough assessment of pharmaceuticals before their reimbursement and elaboration of measures to safeguard timely access to innovation.

Tendering has proven its efficacy mainly in generic procurement, however due to several impediments, its penetration among European Countries is low and data regarding its long-term effect are scarce.

Tendering has been a promising approach for procuring pharmaceuticals. Significant price reductions have been well documented by several authors. To our knowledge, there are limited data detailing the impact of variables in the tendering process.

Introduction:The Oncology field is characterised by a steady increase in demand and a consistent launching of innovative and expensive products. Therefore, cost-effectiveness analysis can contribute as a significant decision-making tool by elucidating the most economically efficient ways to satisfy compelling health needs.Areas covered:The scope of this study is to estimate the cost-effectiveness of axitinib versus sorafenib, for the second-line treatment of renal cell carcinoma. A literature review for evidence synthesis was performed and a probabilistic Markov Model was employed to simulate disease progression. This study will also assess Value of Information.Expert opinion:Compared to sorafenib, axitinib resulted in an incremental cost of 87,936 euro per quality adjusted life year. The probability of axitinib to being cost-effective at the willingness-to-pay threshold of 60,000 euro was 13%, while the corresponding probability of being cost-effective at the highest recommended willingness-to-pay threshold of 100,000 euro was 69.9%. Uncertainty was primarily attributed to the price of the product, the utility values, the progression-free survival and to a lesser degree to the overall survival. Axitinib can be considered as a cost-effective therapeutic option for second-line treatment of renal cell carcinoma.

The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in Cyprus has doubled over the last decade and an urgent overhaul is needed to curb its spread.

Cyprus has been procuring medicines for the public sector through tendering and is one of a few EU member states with this policy both in outpatient and inpatient health sector.

Health care decision making, assessment, and procurement of medicines is a complex, human resource–demanding, and time-consuming process. A thorough evaluation of all factors involved is necessary to optimize the process. The objective of this study was to describe and analyze the current stage of health technology assessment (HTA) in Cyprus.