Assessing the economic benefits of antiherpes therapy

Increasing pressures on health-care budgets mean that health-care treatments and programmes need not only to demonstrate that they are efficacious, but also that they deliver good value for money. In the context of pharmaceuticals it is likely that both in Australia and Ontario (Canada) evidence of cost effectiveness will become a mandatory requirement prior to reimbursement (government subsidy) of drugs. However, in most jurisdictions economic data will be one of a number of factors taken into account by decision makers, be they policy makers, members of formulary committees, or individual prescribers. Methods of economic evaluation have been developed for the assessment of healthcare treatments, but these have not been extensively applied to antiherpes therapy. However, this paper, based on a literature review of the clinical trials of acyclovir, shows that there are many indicators of potential economic benefit, depending on the clinical indication, in length or quality of life, savings in other health-care resources, or wider benefits (e.g., reductions in lost work time). If appropriate economic data are to be gathered in future for new antiherpes therapy, a more systematic approach is required, conducting economic evaluation alongside, or as an integral part of, clinical trials. This raises important logistical and methodological challenges. It is important that researchers acknowledge these challenges early so that they can be adequately addressed.