Economic burden associated with HAE treatment: First-ever comprehensive examination

Apr 5 2010

Dyax Corp. (NASDAQ: DYAX) announced the publication of a first-ever comprehensive examination of the economic burden associated with the treatment of acute attacks and chronic management of hereditary angioedema (HAE). The results, published today in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, bring to light the substantial direct and indirect medical costs of the disease on patients, payers and society. The economic study is one component of a larger survey-based Burden of Illness (BOI) study which assessed both the economic and humanistic burden of HAE. The BOI study was conducted by Dyax in conjunction with the United States Hereditary Angioedema Association (HAEA) and United Biosource Corporation (UBC).

“I have made several sacrifices in my career and personal life because of HAE. The unpredictability and frequency of my laryngeal attacks have made it impossible for me to continue working as a computer operator and, as a result, I've been out of work for twelve years”

Monetizable and non-monetizable costs were captured in the study and highlighted HAE's costly and detrimental impact for patients, payers and society. Monetizable costs averaged $42,000 annually per HAE patient. Costs included direct costs associated with emergency care, physician visits, hospital stays, tests and procedures, and medications, as well as indirect costs such as missed work days and reduced productivity. Costs increased with disease severity. Patients who reported their most recent attack as severe amassed an estimated $96,000 in annual per patient costs. The largest cost component, accounting for approximately 48% of total costs for the average HAE patient, is emergency room visits and hospital stays for managing acute attacks.

Additional non-monetizable costs were reflected in the study yet were not part of the quantifiable analysis. These costs, which further exacerbate the economic burden on patients, payers and society, included the burden of increased depression, reduced income potential and missed opportunities. These non-monetizable costs consist of the cost of managing depression (42.5% percent of patients showed signs of at least mild depression and 19.5% reported that they were taking psychotropic or antidepressant medication), and the financial consequence of common activities being impacted such as driving, exercising and studying. Other costs that were not part of the analyses include the expense of improper procedures and medications as well as indirect costs related to non-paid caregivers. As such, these compounding costs underestimate the total costs associated with HAE.

"I have made several sacrifices in my career and personal life because of HAE. The unpredictability and frequency of my laryngeal attacks have made it impossible for me to continue working as a computer operator and, as a result, I've been out of work for twelve years," said Joan Angert, who was not officially diagnosed with HAE until nine years ago, though she suffered from its symptoms for 30 years.

HAE is a rare genetic disease characterized by unpredictable acute episodes of severe, often painful swelling affecting the extremities, abdomen and the larynx. On average, participants experienced 26.9 acute attacks per year. HAE is estimated to affect 1:10,000 to 1:50,000 individuals. More than half (56.5%) of the respondents from the study reported that they experienced painful abdominal symptoms for their most recent attacks while 24.5% reported laryngeal symptoms. Laryngeal attacks pose the greatest risk with the potential for asphyxiation.

"Our study provides a comprehensive survey of the burden patients with HAE live with," explained lead author David Wilson, MA, Assistant Professor, MGH Institute of Health Professions. "The breadth of the economic consequences highlighted in this study hopefully will raise people's understanding of the disease and inform them of the value of having new therapies available for the people with HAE."