Cost-effectiveness of an adjuvanted recombinant zoster vaccine in adults with inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND: Recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) is recommended for all adults ≥19 years of age who are at increased risk for HZ, including patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

METHODS: A Markov model was constructed to compare the RZV cost-effectiveness with no vaccination in patients with Crohn's Disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC). A simulated cohort of 1 million patients was used for each IBD group at ages 18, 30, 40, and 50. The primary objective of this analysis was to compare RZV cost-effectiveness in patients with CD and UC, comparing vaccination to no vaccination.

RESULTS: Overall, vaccination is cost-effective for both CD and UC, with the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICERs) below $100,000/quality-adjusted life years (QALY) for all age cohorts. For patients with CD, 30 years of age and older, and those with UC 40 years and older, vaccination was both more effective and less expensive than the non-vaccinated strategy (CD ≥30: ICERs $6183-$24,878 and UC ≥40: ICERs $9163-$19,655). However, for CD patients under 30 (CD 18: ICER $2098) and UC patients under 40 (UC = 18: ICER $11,609, and UC = 30: $1343), costs were greater for vaccinated patients, but there was an increase in QALY. One-way sensitivity analysis of age indicates that cost break-even occurs at age 21.8 for the CD group and 31.5 for the UC group. In probabilistic sensitivity analysis, 92% of both CD and UC simulations indicated that vaccination was preferred.

CONCLUSION: In our model, vaccination with RZV was cost-effective for all adult patients with IBD.