Cost-effectiveness and costutility analysis of Deprexis®, a digital therapy intended for the treatment of mild to severe depression, in Catalonia

Abstract

Depression is an illness that has a strong social and economic impact, and that has seen its prevalence increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. As with many sectors of healthcare, the increased costs of treatment and the scarce availability of professionals lead to long waiting lists, generating a need for digital innovation in the management of depression. Deprexis® is a digital therapy that has been recently approved for its reimbursement under prescription in Germany and that has been studied for its efficacy in the treatment of depression as a complement of care-as-usual, as a partial replacement of care-as-usual (CAU) and as a tool to be used in patients in waiting list. In this study the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) and incremental cost-utility ratios (ICUR) of the introduction of Deprexis® as a complement of CAU for the treatment of depression in the region of Catalonia and from the perspective of both, society, and that of the National Health Service, were estimated using a Markov model. It was found that, when compared with CAU, the introduction of Deprexis® incurred an ICER of 3,866 € per clinically improved individual over a one-year time horizon and a ICUR of 125,498 € per quality adjusted life year from the perspective of the National Health service, and 2,248 € per clinically improved individual and 72,970 € per QALY from the societal perspective