The cost effectiveness of penpulimab with paclitaxel and carboplatin in first-line treatment of metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer

Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of Penpulimab versus placebo in treating metastatic squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) from the perspective of Chinese payers. A three-state Markov model was developed to simulate clinical efficacy and cost consumption using Kaplan-Meier curves from clinical trials. The model considered only direct medical costs, with utility values derived from the published literature. The primary outcome measure was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), and sensitivity analysis was performed to assess the impact of parameter uncertainty on the model’s robustness. The base case analysis indicated that the Penpulimab group incurred higher costs ($33,592 vs. $9,351) than the placebo group, while also providing more quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) (3.30 vs. 2.11), resulting in an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of $20,389.38 per QALY. Sensitivity analyses revealed that the cost of Penpulimab, along with the utilities of progression-free survival (PFS) and progression of disease (PD), were the parameters that most significantly influenced the model’s outcomes. From the perspective of Chinese payers, Penpulimab offers a cost-effectiveness advantage over placebo in treating metastatic squamous NSCLC.