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Il prezzo dei farmaci orfani in Italia: il caso di Citarabina Depot (DepoCyte®) nella meningite linfomatosa

Farmeconomia

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Title Il prezzo dei farmaci orfani in Italia: il caso di Citarabina Depot (DepoCyte®) nella meningite linfomatosa
 
Creator Zaniolo, Orietta
Eandi, Mario
Zinzani, Pier Luigi
 
Subject Pharmacoeconomics; Health economics
 
Description Orphan drugs definition should be related to prevalence criteria. In Europe the prevalence criterion is 5/10.000. These drugs are called “orphans” because the pharmaceutical industry has little interest under normal market conditions in developing and marketing products intended for only a small number of patients. For this reason governments have emphasized the need for economic incentives to encourage drug companies to develop and market orphan drugs. Aim of this study is the analysis of the contributing factors involved in the price definition of orphan drugs in Italy, focusing on the case of DepoCyte®, a new orphan drug recently approved by the European Medicines Agency. DepoCyte® is a slow-release formulation of cytarabine designed for intrathecal administration in the treatment of neoplastic meningitis due to metastatic cancers. It maintains cytotoxic concentrations of free cytarabine in the cerebrospinal fluid for more than 14 days following a single injection. In two randomized clinical trials DepoCyte® was compared to standard formulation of cytarabine, showing a better time to neurologic progression and survival trend in favor of DepoCyte®, associated with an improved mean change about quality of life in Karnofsky performance score. The innovative technology and the efficacy of DepoCyte® allow to frame some interesting pharmacoeconomical consequences: the results of the present work showed that DepoCyte® is more expensive but also more effective than standard formulation, and the new formulation-correlated improvement in the patients’ quality of life seems to justify the difference between the costs of the two alternatives.
 
Publisher SEEd Medical Publishers
 
Date 2004-09-15
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

 
Format application/pdf
 
Identifier https://journals.edizioniseed.it/index.php/FE/article/view/793
10.7175/fe.v5i3.793
 
Source Farmeconomia. Health economics and therapeutic pathways; Vol 5, No 3 (2004); 141-150
2240-256X
 
Language eng
 
Relation https://journals.edizioniseed.it/index.php/FE/article/view/793/889
 
Rights Copyright (c) 2004 Farmeconomia. Health economics and therapeutic pathways
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0