Not only can SARS-CoV-2 infection result in immediate respiratory symptoms, but it can also lead to post-acute COVID-19 syndrome (PACS), lasting several months after recovery. At this year’s ISPOR in Copenhagen, Quantify Research’s own Martina Aldvén and Marcelina Kądziela, in collaboration with Pfizer, presented a poster on the cost-effectiveness of nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (NV/r) compared to no anti-viral treatment in Swedish adults including post-acute COVID syndrome (PACS).
Cost-effectiveness was assessed by varying the relative reduction of hospitalization and death and the underlying absolute risk of hospitalization. Varying absolute risks of hospitalization were applied to reflect patient groups at different risk levels in the real-world clinical setting.
Given the prevailing willingness-to-pay (WTP) thresholds in Sweden for moderate health conditions, this study, utilizing recently published RWE, suggests that NV/r compared to no anti-viral treatment is cost-effective in high-risk Swedish adults. Only in patient groups with a very low (~1%) underlying risk of hospitalization and either assuming no NV/r impact on PACS, no PACS societal costs or a very low proportion of PACS in non-hospitalized patients, NV/r may not be cost-effective.
