More than seventeen million people in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland suffer from grass pollen induced allergic rhinitis. While symptomatic therapy has shown to be partially effective, a new tablet-based allergy vaccine GRAZAX(R) has shown to be both effective at symptom reduction and cost-effective.
New data published in Clinical & Experimental Allergy and presented at the European Academy of Allergology and Clinical Immunology (EAACI) congress today assessed the cost-effectiveness of the only grass allergen tablet on the market. The study compared GRAZAX(R) with placebo in seven Northern European countries(i).
The main findings were:
- GRAZAX(R) significantly reduces the use of symptomatic medication compared to placebo
- GRAZAX(R) significantly reduces the time lost from work compared to treating with symptomatic medication alone
- GRAZAX(R) significantly increase the number of QALYs compared to treating with symptomatic medication alone
Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) takes into account both direct costs (e.g. medication and physician visits) and indirect costs (productivity losses such as time away from work) caused by a condition e.g. allergy. One QALY is equal to one year of perfect health for a patient. The lower the cost per QALY gained, the more cost-effective the medical intervention.
Based on these findings, GRAZAX(R) is cost-effective and compares favourably with many other medical interventions.
"The bottom line is, we shouldn't be asking if we can afford to provide GRAZAX(R) to every grass allergic person and help them increase their quality of life," says Dr Claus Bachert, head of the University of Ghent Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Clinic in Belgium and a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) initiative "Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma" ("ARIA"). "Instead, in the face of today's epidemic of allergy, we should ask ourselves if we can afford not to?"
Other controlled clinical studies with allergy vaccines have demonstrated the added benefits of immunotherapy in treating asthma symptoms in patients suffering from allergic asthma, and in preventing the development of new allergies and asthma(ii).
The authors of the current publication discussed that: if the costs associated with the onset of new allergies, the progression of allergy into asthma and the reduced productivity at work were added to the analysis results - GRAZAX(R) would be even more cost-effective.
"In the future by assessing all costs, including the future cost of allergic complications, we will be able to show incredible cost-effectiveness on a societal basis, or even cost-savings compared with no action," says Bachert. "GRAZAX(R) should be seen as an important part of the optimal treatment for grass allergy in Northern Europe.''
About Health Economy
Health economy studies enable an evaluation of the price of a pharmaceutical product relative to its effect on patients' health. Health economy analysis is based on international guidelines and used by the medical authorities to decide whether public health care systems should provide reimbursement to a given treatment.
The health economy data for GRAZAX(R) was collected alongside the clinical trials. The analysis shows that treatment with GRAZAX(R) is of economic benefit to society, because the treatment improves patients' quality of life, reduces the number of days lost through sickness and reduces the need for symptom-reliving medication. In addition, the costs of visits to the doctor are considerably lower compared to subcutaneous allergy vaccines.
About GRAZAX(R)
Grass pollen allergy is a health problem representing a significant social burden. At least 45 million people in Europe suffer from grass pollen allergy in the form of allergic rhinitis (hay fever) or allergic asthma - or both.
GRAZAX(R) is a fast-dissolving, once-daily tablet-based allergy vaccine for patient home administration. The efficacy and safety of GRAZAX(R) have been documented in the largest clinical study programme ever conducted within allergy vaccination. The studies show, amongst other things, that the efficacy of GRAZAX(R) starts from the very first day of the first grass pollen season under treatment, and that 82% of the patients treated with GRAZAX(R) feel 'better' or 'much better' in the first treatment season compared with previous seasons. Further information is available at www.GRAZAX.com.
While a long-term study is still being conducted on GRAZAX(R), this week at the EAACI congress, ALK-Abelló presented top-line results from the second treatment year in a long-term study with GRAZAX(R). In this study GRAZAX(R) shows highly significant efficacy and progressive immunological changes over two years of continuous treatment. These results support expectations of a progressive effect with long-term treatment with GRAZAX(R) and a potential to halt the allergic march.
About ALK-Abelló
ALK-Abelló is devoted to improving the lives of people with allergies by developing pharmaceutical products that target the cause of their allergic disease. ALK-Abelló is the world leader in the development of immunotherapy treatments - a unique treatment that induces a protective immune response with sustained symptom prevention. Allergy immunotherapy is traditionally conducted as subcutaneous injections or sublingual droplets. ALK-Abelló aims to extend the use of immunotherapy by introducing convenient tablets for home treatment, thereby offering many more patients a causal allergy treatment. ALK-Abelló has more than 1,300 employees with subsidiaries, production facilities and distributors throughout the world. The company is headquartered in Hørsholm, Denmark and listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. Further information is available at www.alk-abello.com.
GRAZAX(R) is a trademark owned by ALK-Abelló A/S.
(i) C. Bachert_, U. Vestenbæk, J. Christensen, U. K. Griffiths and P. B. Poulsen. Cost-effectiveness of grass allergen tablet (GRAZAX) for the prevention of seasonal grass pollen induced rhinoconjunctivitis - a Northern European perspective. Clinical & Experimental Allergy. 2007; 37:772-779
(ii) Bousquet J, Van Cauwenberge P, Khaltaev N. Allergic rhinitis and its impact on asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol 2001;108(5 Suppl):S147-334 - PR Newswire, UK
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