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The cost-effectiveness of strontium ranelate in the UK for the management of osteoporosis

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Abstract

Summary

The cost-effectiveness of strontium ranelate was compared to no treatment in UK women using the FRAX® algorithm for fracture risk assessment. At a willingness-to-pay of £30,000 per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY), strontium ranelate was generally cost-effective in women with prior fracture at the threshold of osteoporosis from an age of 65 years.

Introduction

The objectives of the study were to estimate the cost-effectiveness of strontium ranelate in the UK for the treatment of osteoporosis and to establish intervention thresholds for treatment using the FRAX® tool.

Methods

The cost-effectiveness of strontium ranelate was compared to no treatment in postmenopausal women with clinical risk factors for fracture using a lifetime simulation model based on Markov cohort methodology that incorporated the features of FRAX®.

Results

At a threshold of £30,000 per QALY, strontium ranelate was generally cost-effective in women from an age of 65 years with prior fracture at the threshold of osteoporosis (i.e., a T-score of −2.5 SD) and in women with a prior fracture (and no information on bone mineral density) from the age of 65 years. At a threshold of £20,000, strontium ranelate became cost-effective at a 10-year fracture probability of 25.7% and at 16.9% with a threshold of £30,000 for a QALY.

Conclusions

Strontium ranelate is a cost-effective agent for the treatment of established osteoporosis in women over the age of 65 years. Cost-effective scenarios were also found for the prevention and treatment of fractures associated with osteoporosis, in younger women with additional clinical risk factors.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Servier Laboratories for their financial support of this study. Servier had no role in the study design, in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, and in the writing of the manuscript.

Conflicts of interest

JAK, FB, OS, EMcC, HJ, and AO act as advisors to and have received funding from many pharmaceutical companies involved in marketing products for treatment of osteoporosis.

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Borgström, F., Ström, O., Coelho, J. et al. The cost-effectiveness of strontium ranelate in the UK for the management of osteoporosis. Osteoporos Int 21, 339–349 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00198-009-0971-5

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