Brigatinib is a cost-effective treatment in first-line anaplastic lymphoma kinase mutation-positive (ALK + ) advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with brain metastases

Introduction: The aim of this paper was to assess the cost-effectiveness of alectinib and brigatinib in first-line for anaplastic lymphoma kinase mutation-positive (ALK+) advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Pivotal phase III RCTs were considered. Four hundred and eighty-two patients were included. Both trials, which compared alectinib and brigatinib versus (vs.) crizotinib (control group), respectively, showed a gain in pharmacological costs, compared to the control group, of 194.80 € for alectinib and 648.48 € for brigatinib for an entire treatment of a single patient. Brigatinib was the less expensive, with a cost of 269.78 € for each month of PFS for both intention-to-treat (ITT) population that patients with baseline brain metastases (BBM). In conclusion, combining pharmacological costs of drugs with the measure of efficacy represented by PFS, both alectinib and brigatinib are cost-effective treatments in first-line for ALK+ NSCLC. In the BBM population brigatinib seems to be the most cost-effectiveness.