Spectra Optia® for Automated Red Blood Cell Exchange in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease: A NICE Medical Technology Guidance

Iain Willits (), Helen Cole, Roseanne Jones, Kimberley Carter, Mick Arber, Michelle Jenks, Joyce Craig and Andrew Sims
Additional contact information
Iain Willits: Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust, Freeman Hospital
Helen Cole: Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust, Freeman Hospital
Roseanne Jones: Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust, Freeman Hospital
Kimberley Carter: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence
Mick Arber: University of York
Michelle Jenks: University of York
Joyce Craig: University of York
Andrew Sims: Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust, Freeman Hospital

Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 2017, vol. 15, issue 4, No 4, 455-468

Abstract: Abstract The Spectra Optia® automated apheresis system, indicated for red blood cell exchange in people with sickle cell disease, underwent evaluation by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which uses its Medical Technologies Advisory Committee to make recommendations. The company (Terumo Medical Corporation) produced a submission making a case for adoption of its technology, which was critiqued by the Newcastle and York external assessment centre. Thirty retrospective observational studies were identified in their clinical submission. The external assessment centre considered these were of low methodological and reporting quality. Most were single-armed studies, with only six studies providing comparative data. The available data showed that, compared with manual red blood cell exchange, Spectra Optia reduces the frequency of exchange procedures as well as their duration, but increases the requirement for donor blood. However, other clinical and patient benefits were equivocal because of an absence of robust clinical evidence. The company provided a de novo model to support the economic proposition of the technology, and reported that in most scenarios Spectra Optia was cost saving, primarily through reduced requirement of chelation therapy to manage iron overload. The external assessment centre considered that although the cost-saving potential of Spectra Optia was plausible, the model and its clinical inputs were not sufficiently robust to demonstrate this. However, taking the evidence together with expert and patient advice, the Medical Technologies Advisory Committee considered Spectra Optia was likely to save costs, provide important patient benefits, and reduce inequality, and gave the technology a positive recommendation in Medical Technology Guidance 28.

Keywords: National Health Service; Sickle Cell Disease; Iron Overload; Chelation Therapy; Iron Chelation Therapy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s40258-016-0302-x Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:aphecp:v:15:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s40258-016-0302-x

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/economics/journal/40258

DOI: 10.1007/s40258-016-0302-x

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Health Economics and Health Policy is currently edited by Timothy Wrightson

More articles in Applied Health Economics and Health Policy from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().