Dapagliflozin in chronic kidney disease: cost-effectiveness beyond the DAPA-CKD trial

The Dapagliflozin and Prevention of Adverse Outcomes in CKD (DAPA-CKD) trial enrolled patients with estimated glomerular filtration rate 25-75 mL/min/1.73 m² and urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio >200 mg/g. The Dapagliflozin Effect on CardiovascuLAR Events-Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction 58 (DECLARE-TIMI 58) trial enrolled patients with type 2 diabetes, a higher range of kidney function and no albuminuria criterion. The study objective was to estimate the cost-effectiveness of dapagliflozin in a broad chronic kidney disease population based on these two trials in the UK, Spain, Italy and Japan.

We adapted a published Markov model based on the DAPA-CKD trial but to a broader population, irrespective of urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio, using patient-level data from the DAPA-CKD and DECLARE-TIMI 58 trials. We sourced cost and utility inputs from literature and the DAPA-CKD trial. The analysis considered healthcare system perspectives over a lifetime horizon.

Treatment with dapagliflozin was predicted to attenuate disease progression and extend projected life expectancy by 0.64 years (12.5 versus 11.9 years, undiscounted) in the UK, with similar estimates in other settings. Clinical benefits translated to mean quality-adjusted life year (QALY; discounted) gains between 0.45 and 0.68 years across countries. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios in the UK, Spain, Italy and Japan ($10 676/QALY, $14 479/QALY, $7771/QALY and $13 723/QALY, respectively) were cost-effective at country-specific willingness-to-pay thresholds. Subgroup analyses suggest dapagliflozin is cost-effective irrespective of urinary albumin-to-creatine ratio and type 2 diabetes status.

Treatment with dapagliflozin may be cost-effective for patients across a wider spectrum of estimated glomerular filtration rates and albuminuria than previously demonstrated, with or without type 2 diabetes, in the UK, Spanish, Italian and Japanese healthcare systems.