title: Cost effectiveness analysis of Avonex and CinnoVex in Relapsing Remitting MS.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Multiple sclerosis is a chronic and degenerative neurological disease characterized by loss of myelin sheath of some neurons in brain and spinal cord. It is associated with high economic burden due to premature deaths and high occurrence of disabilities. The aim of the current study was to determine cost effectiveness of two major products of interferon 1a in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Altogether, 140 patients who have consumed Avonex and CinnoVex in Relapsing Remitting MS for at least two years were randomly selected (70 patients in each group). Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was assessed using the adopted MSQoL-54 instrument. Costs were measured and valued from Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME) perspective. Two-way sensitivity analysis was used to check robustness of the results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients in CinnoVex group reported significantly higher scores in both physical (69.5 vs. 50.9, P<0.001) and mental (63.3 vs. 56.6, P=0.03) aspects of HRQoL than Avonex group. On the other hand, annual cost of CinnoVex and Avonex were 2410 US$ and 4515US$ per patient, respectively (P<0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results showed that CinnoVex was dominant option over the study period. It is suggested that results of the current study should be considered in allocating resources to MS treatments in Iran. Of course, our findings should be interpreted with caution duo to short term horizon and lack of HRQoL scores at baseline (before the intervention).
authors.affiliation: Health management and economic research center, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, IUMS, Tehran, Iran and Department of Health Economics, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, IUMS, Tehran, Iran. b_najafi@razi.tums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ghaderi
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.forename: Smaeil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.forename: Aliasghar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmad Kiadaliri
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000328:Adult; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000068556:Interferon beta-1a; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000191:economics* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000191:economics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D016899:Interferon-beta; D000068556:Interferon beta-1a