RESUMO
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to perform an economic evaluation of the PURSUIT trial in Spain, and to measure the cost per year of life saved in patients treated with this drug. PURSUIT is a large, randomised multicentric study on the treatment of unstable angina or non Q wave myocardial infarction with eptifibatide versus placebo, METHODS: The data on resource consumption provided by the PURSUIT trial were grouped in several populations according to geographical and resource consumption criteria. Unitary costs of these resources were calculated using an "upward" approach that combines individual costs to obtain total costs of several processes and lengths of hospital stay. Cost analysis compares the costs of the initial admission and of the following six months (total cost per patient) for both placebo and eptifibatide. Cost-effectiveness analysis is calculated from total costs and years of life saved calculated according to projections made from results of PURSUIT for Western Europe. RESULTS: The average 6 month cost for the patients who received placebo varies from 0.91 to 1.41 million pesetas, and from 0.96 to 1.45 million pesetas for those treated with eptifibatide. The mean survival was 16.07 years in the placebo group versus 16.11 years in eptifibatide group; 2.9 years of life were saved for every 100 patients treated. The incremental cost of each year of life saved ranges from 1.3 to 3.3 million pesetas. CONCLUSIONS: Results vary depending on resource consumption data used. The cost per year of life saved is within the limits considered acceptable for a new technology.