Cannabidiol with clobazam for seizures associated with Dravet and Lennox-Gastaut syndromes

• Published in: Lancet neurology Vol. 19; no. 4; pp. 290 - 291
• Main Authors: Lamb, Alan, Dawoud, Dalia, Dent, Ross, Elliott, Nicole, Adler, Amanda I
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2020; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Body weight; Cannabidiol; Caregivers; Clinical trials; Committees; Convulsions & seizures; Costs; Drug dosages; Epilepsy; Marketing; Overweight; Patients; Quality of life; Seizures; United Kingdom > UK
• ISSN: 1474-4422; 1474-4465
• DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(20)30060-0

The company's assumptions around living longer were based on an observational study of patients with epilepsy that compared death rates of patients who were free from seizures with those who had persistent seizures. The company modelled the effect on health-related quality of life for carers of someone with Dravet or Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, basing this estimate on evidence from a survey it carried out in carers of people with Dravet or Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. The committee agreed to include caregiver quality of life in the analysis of cost-effectiveness, but noted that both the company's survey and its approach to incorporating carer quality of life into the model could overestimate the health impact on carers. The company calculated the weight-based costs of treatment using the median, rather than the mean, body weight among trial participants; the committee did not accept this approach, noting that it deviated from standard health economic practice, and that clinicians would offer treatment to outliers—ie, overweight patients.