Cost of Treatment in HBeAg-Negative Chronic Hepatitis B Patients with 10-Years Projection Analysis

Chronic hepatitis B infection has to be treated effectively due to its major complications. The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the therapy alternatives' treatment costs for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) negative patients with 10-year projection analysis according to current reimbursement guideline in Turkey.

All testing that should be done before the treatment and during follow-up was determined according to the guideline. Medicinal costs were calculated according to 2014 prices. Cost calculation was performed on 100 hypothetical HBeAg negative, 35 years old patients whose alanine aminotransferase value was >2 X upper limit of the normal laboratory level by taking into consideration the risks of resistance seen during the treatment. Switching to tenofovir scenario was concocted when resistance to lamivudine and telbivudine was developed. In pegylated-interferon non-responders, alternative scenarios have been edited and evaluated.

The total cost of patients whose treatment was started with pegylated-interferon and switched to lamivudine and tenofovir due to non-response was found 2,662,504 TL. Treatment cost of patients whose therapy was passed to tenofovir after initiation with lamivudine or telbivudine was 2,444,175 TL and 3,061,869 TL, respectively. From the beginning of treatment in patients taking entecavir or tenofovir, the 10-year cost of treatment was 3,924,960 TL and 3,884,040 TL, respectively.

As a result, when assessing the cost of the treatment of chronic hepatitis B not only medicine box costs, but also drug resistance and laboratory testing costs, should be considered. In our country, on the basis of 10 years cost; pegylated-interferon and lamivudine therapy has been found advantageous in patients with low viral load, and tenofovir has been found advantageous in patients with high viral load.