Cost-effectiveness of the CNIC-Polypill versus separate monocomponents in cardiovascular secondary prevention in Spain

Introduction and objectives: Despite advances in treatment, cardiovascular disease is the second leading cause of death in Spain. The objective of this study was to determine the costeffectiveness of the CNIC-Polypill strategy (acetylsalicylic acid 100 mg, atorvastatin 20/40 mg, ramipril 2.5/5/10 mg) compared with the same separate monocomponents for the secondary prevention of recurrent cardiovascular events in adults in Spain.Materials and methods: A Markov cost-utility model was adapted considering four health states (stable, subsequent major adverse cardiovascular event, subsequent ischemic stroke and death) and the SMART risk equation over a lifetime horizon from the perspective of the Spanish National Healthcare System. The CNIC-Polypill strategy was compared with monocomponents in a hypothetical cohort of 1000 secondary prevention patients. Effectiveness, epidemiological, cost and utilities data were obtained from the NEPTUNO study, official databases and literature. Outcomes were costs (in 2021 euros) per life-year (LY) and quality-adjusted LY (QALY) gained. A 3% discount rate was applied. Deterministic one-way and probabilistic sensitivity analyses evaluated the robustness of the model.Results: The CNIC-Polypill strategy in secondary prevention results in more LY (13.22) and QALY (11.64) gains at a lower cost than monocomponents. The CNIC-Polypill is dominant and saves euro 280.68 per patient compared with monocomponents. The probabilistic sensitivity analysis shows that 82.4% of the simulations are below the threshold of euro 25,000 per QALY gained.Conclusions: The CNIC-Polypill strategy in secondary cardiovascular prevention is cost-effective compared with the same separate monocomponents, resulting in a cost-saving strategy to the Spanish National Healthcare System.& COPY; 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Espana, S.L.U. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study aimed to determine the cost-effectiveness of the CNIC-Polypill strategy compared with separate monocomponents for the secondary prevention of recurrent cardiovascular events in Spain. The results showed that the CNIC-Polypill strategy resulted in more life-years (LY) and quality-adjusted LY (QALY) gains at a lower cost compared with monocomponents. Thus, it is a cost-saving strategy for the Spanish National Healthcare System.