Intravenous Esomeprazole: A Pharmacoeconomic Profile of its Use in the Prevention of Recurrent Peptic Ulcer Bleeding

Intravenous esomeprazole (Nexium) is approved in Europe for the prevention of rebleeding following therapeutic endoscopy for acute bleeding gastric or duodenal ulcers. In a pivotal clinical trial, patients with peptic ulcer bleeding and high-risk stigmata who received intravenous esomeprazole for 72 hours following endoscopic haemostatic therapy were significantly less likely than those receiving intravenous placebo to experience recurrent peptic ulcer bleeding at days 3, 7 and 30. In addition, the need for repeat endoscopic haemostatic therapy, the total amount of blood transfused and the number of additional hospital days required because of rebleeding were significantly lower in intravenous esomeprazole recipients than in intravenous placebo recipients. All patients received oral esomeprazole for 27 days following intravenous study drug administration. Intravenous esomeprazole was generally well tolerated in the pivotal trial, with infusion-site reactions being among the most commonly reported adverse events. Two pharmacoeconomic analyses conducted from a healthcare payer perspective used decision-tree models with 30-day time horizons to examine the cost effectiveness and cost utility of intravenous esomeprazole in patients with bleeding peptic ulcers who had undergone endoscopic haemostatic therapy. With regard to the incremental cost per bleed averted, intravenous esomeprazole was predicted to be dominant in Spain and cost effective in Sweden and the US compared with no intravenous esomeprazole. Efficacy results and resource utilization data from the pivotal clinical trial were inputted into this model, and the results of the analysis were generally robust to plausible variations in key variables. In the cost-utility analysis, which was conducted in the UK and is available as an abstract and poster, esomeprazole was considered to be the most cost-effective treatment alternative, compared with omeprazole or pantoprazole. For this analysis, clinical outcomes data were obtained from a systematic review and mixed treatment comparison (given the absence of head-to-head trial data), and utility values were proxied from the literature. In conclusion, intravenous esomeprazole prevents peptic ulcer rebleeding in patients who have undergone endoscopic haemostatic therapy. Pharmacoeconomic analyses support the use of intravenous esomeprazole following endoscopic haemostatic therapy in patients with peptic ulcer bleeding and high-risk stigmata.