Cost-effectiveness and budget-impact analysis of tirzepatide in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and obesity in the German health-care system
Background - Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is common, obesity-related, and associated with high symptom burden and healthcare use. Tirzepatide, a dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist, improved symptoms and outcomes in SUMMIT, but its acquisition cost raises concerns about value and affor...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article (Journal) |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
1 September 2026
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| In: |
International journal of cardiology
Year: 2026, Volume: 458, Pages: 1-9 |
| ISSN: | 1874-1754 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ijcard.2026.134560 |
| Online Access: | Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcard.2026.134560 Verlag, kostenfrei, Volltext: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167527326004092 
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| Author Notes: | Bent Estler, Hanna Fröhlich, Tobias Täger, Jannick Heins, Norbert Frey, Lutz Frankenstein |
| Summary: | Background - Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction is common, obesity-related, and associated with high symptom burden and healthcare use. Tirzepatide, a dual GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist, improved symptoms and outcomes in SUMMIT, but its acquisition cost raises concerns about value and affordability. - Methods - We developed a Markov model comparing tirzepatide versus placebo, both added to standard care, in the SUMMIT population from the German statutory health insurance perspective. The model used monthly cycles over 5 years with four Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire clinical summary score-defined health states (Q1-Q4) plus death. Arm-specific transitions and rates of all-cause death and worsening heart failure were derived from SUMMIT. Deterministic and probabilistic sensitivity analyses, including tirzepatide price-reduction scenarios, were conducted to explore parameter uncertainty and price thresholds simultaneously. A prevalence-based budget impact analysis extrapolated results to the German HFpEF-obesity population under alternative eligibility (SUMMIT-like vs broad) and uptake (30%, 50%, 100%) scenarios. - Results - Discounted per-patient costs were €5827 (placebo) and €31,052 (tirzepatide), with quality-adjusted life years of 3.539 and 3.638. Tirzepatide generated 0.100 additional quality-adjusted life years at an incremental cost of €25,225, yielding an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio of 252,611€/quality-adjusted life year, with low probability of cost-effectiveness at €100,000/QALY. Five-year incremental spending was ∼€1.9-6.2 billion with SUMMIT-like and ∼ €3.8-12.6 billion with broad eligibility, depending on uptake. - Conclusions - Tirzepatide provides modest quality-adjusted life year gains at substantially higher costs and, at current price, appears neither cost-effective nor affordable at scale in German care. Substantial price reductions would be required to improve economic attractiveness and budgetary impact. |
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| Item Description: | Online verfügbar: 19. Mai 2026, Artikelversion: 22. Mai 2026 Gesehen am 04.09.2026 |
| Physical Description: | Online Resource |
| ISSN: | 1874-1754 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ijcard.2026.134560 |