Economic evaluation of sevelamer in patients with end-stage renal disease

Abstract

The cost per QALY gained for treating all dialysis patients with sevelamer exceeds what would usually be considered good value for the money. While the high cost per QALY was in part due to the inclusion of the costs of dialysis and transplant in the analysis, the cost per QALY gained remained relatively unattractive even when these costs were excluded. Although a lower cost per QALY gained is realized when only patients older than 65 years are treated, this strategy remains economically unattractive, particularly given the uncertainty of clinical benefit in this group.