Enoxaparin results in cost savings compared with UFH in VTE

French pharmaceutical major Sanofi-Aventis says that actuarial analysis of data from a trial comparing prophylaxis with enoxaparin, a key component of the firm's antithrombotic agent Lovenox, and unfractionated heparin in the treatment of patients at risk from venous thromboembolism, revealed the former resulted in an average cost saving of $1,002 over UFH, despite initial higher acquisition costs. The four-year retrospective study, which focused on data from more than 17,000 patients over the period 1999-2003, was published in Pharmacy & Therapeutics and formed part of Aon Corp's life sciences practice Clinical Effectiveness Initiative.

The overall CEI program found that the lower total in-patient costs associated with enoxaparin were as a result of savings achieved in intensive care requirements, laboratory analysis costs and medical supply expenditure, when compared with UFH. The work also established that significant cost savings resulted from switching to enoxaparin in patients with respiratory disease, a complicating co-morbidity or unstable angina.

Lead study author Richard Weinberg, chief quality officer at Stamford Hospital, in Connecticut, USA, said: "because of its cost-effectiveness, enoxaparin may be the preferred treatment strategy for prophylaxis in those at risk of DVT and pulmonary embolism."