Abstract
AIMS: Diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) impose a vast health and economic burden on individuals and healthcare systems globally. We assessed the cost-effectiveness of adding ON101, a novel treatment for accelerating wound healing, to general wound care (GWC) versus GWC alone for DFUs in Singapore, a multi-ethnic country with increasing DFU prevalence in a growing type 2 diabetes population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A Markov model was utilized to estimate the healthcare costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) over 5 years from a healthcare sector perspective. Model inputs were mainly derived from the Singapore Wound Registry and published literature. The primary outcome was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER). Subgroup analyses stratified by clinically important DFU conditions and scenario analyses were conducted to confirm the study's robustness. RESULTS: Compared to GWC alone, adding ON101 yielded greater QALY gained (i.e., 0.15) and lower healthcare costs (i.e., -US$16237) for patients with DFUs. Remarkable cost-savings from the use of ON101 with GWC were observed for patients with complex DFUs, namely ICERs of -US$161 963, -US$181 726 and -US$199 130 per QALY gained for cases with HbA1c ≥ 9%, ulcer duration >6 months and ulcer size >5 cm(2), respectively. Scenario analysis comparing ON101 with GWC to negative pressure wound therapy with GWC yielded an ICER of -US$677 243 per QALY gained. CONCLUSIONS: Combining ON101 with GWC versus GWC alone was highly cost-effective for DFUs in Singapore. Also, the economic results for complex DFU cases underscore the value of ON101 in addressing DFU treatment challenges for managing complex cases, offering cost-savings alongside clinical benefits.