Cost-effectiveness results from the US Carvedilol Heart Failure Trials Program

To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of carvedilol, a beta-blocker that is approved for use in the US for the treatment of heart failure, based on data from Phase III clinical trials.

We conducted an economic evaluation alongside the US Carvedilol Heart Failure Trials Program, which consisted of four concurrent, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trials; the mean duration of follow-up across these four trials was 6.5 months (the program was terminated prematurely based on a finding of a 65% mortality benefit). Using data from these trials, we examined the cost-effectiveness of carvedilol in terms of the estimated cost per death averted among patients randomized to such therapy versus those receiving placebo. Attention was focused on the cost of carvediol therapy plus the cost of cardiovascular-related inpatient care. Costs of care were estimated by combining infomation on healthcare utilization from the clinical trials with secondary sources of cost data.

Patients randomized to receive carvedilol had lower mean +/- SD estimated costs of cardiovascular-related inpatient care over 6.5 months compared with those receiving placebo ($1912 +/- $7595 vs. $4463 +/- $20,565, respectively). As mortality alsowas lower among carvedilol patients, the estimated cost per death averted was negative. The probability that carvedilol would both increase survival and decrease costs of cardiovascular-related care over a 6.5-month period was estimated to be 0.98.

Data from the US Carvedilol Heart Failure Trials Program indicate that carvedilol reduces mortality in patients with heart failure; our study suggests that it also may be cost-saving over a period of approximately six months.