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Comparative costs Dasatinib vs Imatinib (Spr ycel /Glivec)

There is currently a lot of interest in the use of Dasatinib as an alternative to Imatinib due to some people being unable to tolerate Imatinib or who are not responsing well to it.

One factor which PCT's will always want to be aware of is the relative cost of prescribing the two drugs.
I have taken the following information from some literature produced by Bristol Myers Squibb - manufacturers of Sprycel.

'The cost of 30 days treatment with 70mg of dasatinib(Sprycel) is £2,606(£31,714 per year) per patient.
This cost is equivalent to 650mg of imatinib (Glivec).
In the chronic phase of cml, the recommended dose of imatinib is 400mg once daily, and of dasatinib is 70mg twice daily. The highest indicated dose of imatinib is 800mg at a cost of £3,208 for 30 days treatment (£39,030 per patient per year)'

This may be of value if anyone is attempting to persuade their PCT to allow Sprycel to be prescribed for them.
There is clearly, NOT a huge cost implication when switching from Glivec to Sprycel.

Paul

Hi Paul, thanks for the costing information. I have just heard from a friend involved in patient advocacy in eastern europe that there is soon to be an official change in the dosing of Sprycel. the new recommended dosage is to be 100mg taken once a day. this will certainly help with the cost differential argument that some pct's are citing as a reason to refuse funding.
i understand the information will be published on EMEA web pages soon.

sandy C ;o)

about the new recommended dose... although not an official web site

at

http://popmed.info/2007/09/26/emea-approves-new-starting-dose-for-spryce...

rob - http://cmlblog.spaces.live.com

some of you may be wondering why there has been a change to the recommended starting dose for chronic stage cml patients. i have copied a snip from a statement below. thanks for this link Rob.

....The new 100mg starting dose reflected in the label change is based upon an ongoing Phase lll (034), open-label, randomised, multi-centre international trial from 139 clinical trial sites that was conducted to determine the most effective starting dose regimen of Sprycel in patients with chronic phase CML who were resistant or intolerant to imatinib.

" Bristol-Myers Squibb is pleased about the approval of the 100mg once-daily stating dose of Sprycel for chronic phase patients..... The clinical data on the new starting dose demonstrate improved patient tolerability whilst maintaining efficacy compared to the previous starting dose of 70mg twice daily," said Frank Pasqualone, General Manager, Bristol-Myers Squibb UK.

for the full version of this article click

...here

The updated SPC is now published on the EMEA site
-scroll to section 4.2 for specific mention of the new 100 mg dose
....here

sandy C ;o)