New Study Highlights Potential Cost Savings When Using Yttrium-90 Glass Microspheres for Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2016

TARE (Transarterial Radio-embolization) Using Yttrium-90 Glass Microspheres, Associated With Both Cost Savings and Overall Decreased Use of Hospital Resource

BTG plc (LSE: BTG), an international specialist healthcare company, has today announced the publication of new data at the 21st Annual Meeting of ISPOR (International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research), highlighting that treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) using yttrium-90 glass microspheres is associated with cost savings and decreased hospital resource use.

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The results of the budget impact analysis, undertaken from a Canadian hospital perspective, show that for a Canadian hospital managing 200 HCC patients annually, reimbursing TARE (transarterial radio-embolization) would incur savings of approximately $37,000, $55,000 and $75,000 in years one, two and three respectively. In year three, the analysis includes incremental costs of $207,000 for device acquisition compared against savings of $281,000 for administration and savings of $1,000 in adverse event management.

Commenting on the results, study author Marie Maxime Hubert, from JSS Medical Research Inc., said, "For patients with HCC, at either intermediate or advanced stages, TARE has the potential to improve survival, has a favorable safety profile and has seen successful outcomes in patients with portal vein thrombosis (PVT). In the context of increasingly cost-pressured health systems around the world, the potential for TARE to improve patient outcomes while at the same time support hospitals' management of scarce resources should not be underestimated."

The budget impact analysis applied for the study used the Ontario Case Costing Initiative database, published literature and expert opinion to determine the potential for cost savings from a Canadian hospital perspective. It compared the treatment of intermediate HCC with TARE using yttrium-90 glass microspheres, versus TACE, an inpatient procedure, including cTACE and drug-eluting beads TACE (DEB-TACE). In patients with advanced HCC, TARE was compared to self-administered sorafenib.