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Non-Tech : Nabi (NABI) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Oak Tree who wrote (305)	1/4/2001 9:42:49 AM
From: Extra Pale	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 354

Oak Tree, Article on economics of StaphVax (thanks to Liners on Yahoo thread):http://www.biocoverage.com/pva.html PHARMACOECONOMIC VALUE ADDED PharmacoEconomics is a field of study that is widely used by healthcare payers and by pharmaceutical industry marketing groups. It involves the use of financial and economic modelling to assist in the complex decision making process used by payers and doctors to decide which medical products and/or services to use and reimburse in various medical situations. It is effectively a form of cost-benefit analysis that takes into consideration both the clinical and the economic costs and benefits of different treatment modalities. As such, it represents an effort to balance clinical factors with economic factors, with the goal of providing the best treatments for the least cost. In order to help readers to better understand PharmacoEconomics, we will walk through an example from the BioCoverage Universe. The example we will use here is that of a product in development at Nabi. The product is called Nabi-StaphVAX - a vaccine against Staph. infections. In a recently completed Phase III clinical trial in hemodialysis patients, the vaccine has been shown to reduce the rate of Staph. infection by approximately 55% through a 10-month period. Without a vaccine, the typical rate of Staph infection in this population is approximately 4-5%. Thus, in a sample population of 100 hemodialysis patients, one would typically expect approximately 4 or 5 Staph. infections. Assuming a 55% reduction in the rate of infection, a vaccinated population of 100 should incur only 2 infections. According to a recent study that is presented on the CDC website, the direct cost of Staph. infections runs in the range of $30,000 - $40,000 per infection. This includes hospital stays, doctor visits, nurse attendance, and antibiotic administration. These direct costs do not include the indirect costs, which are more difficult to quantify. The indirect costs include such factors as lost wages, pain & suffering, patient travel expenses, family travel expenses, and family anxieties. So, the true costs of a Staph infection are actually much higher than the figure cited. Using the figure of $30,000 per infection, one can conclude that every 100 hemodialysis patients will incur $150,000 (5 infections * $30K per infection) in direct costs associated with Staph. infection. In contrast, a vaccinated population of 100 patients should incur only $60,000 (2 infections * $30K per infection) in direct costs. Thus, we can conclude that the PharmacoEconomic Value Added of Nabi-StaphVAX is $90,000 per 100 hemodialysis patients. It is estimated that there are approximately 150,000 patients on hemodialysis in the US. Therefore, the PVA of Nabi-StaphVAX in the US hemodialysis population is $135 MM per year. To complete the analysis of Nabi-StaphVAX in the US, one should also look at other patient populations as well, because Staph. infection is a problem in many other medical situations besides kidney dialysis. It is estimated that, in the aggregate, there are approximately 500,000 Staph. infections in the US each year. At a 55% rate of protection, effective use of StaphVAX should reduce that figure to 225,000. At a cost of $30,000 per infection, the total PVA of StaphVAX for the US healthcare system would be $8.25 Billion per year in direct costs. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JONATHAN L. GAL, PRESIDENT OF BIOCOVERAGE, INC. 22 CHAUNCY STREET, SUITE 19 * CAMBRIDGE, MA * 02138 * JLG@BIOCOVERAGE.COM * WWW.BIOCOVERAGE.COM PHONE: (617) 491-1238 * FAX: (617) 491-1238