Pharmacoeconomic evaluation of anti-hyperlipidemic agent fenofibrate

We evaluated the economic efficiency as well as the clinical effectiveness on serum lipid levels of a change in drug therapy from bezafibrate or a 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A (HMG-CoA) reductase inhibitor to fenofibrate. Subjects were 26 outpatients suffering from type IIb or type IV hyperlipidemia who visited our hospital between October 2000 and January 2001. Medication doses, and serum lipid levels were recorded prior to the change to fenofibrate and at 6 months after the change. Medical costs were also calculated at the same time points. A significant reduction in medical costs of 14.9% was observed following the change to fenofibrate. Serum lipid levels were not significantly different, although an increase in low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol) was observed in patients changing from the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor. The actual drug costs were reduced by 21.8% in the bezafibrate to fenofibrate group and by 23.7% in the HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor to fenofibrate group. Although the drug costs of changing to fenofibrate decreased significantly, other costs remained almost unchanged.