Pharmacoeconomic benefits of deferasirox in the management of iron overload syndromes.

Deferasirox is a once-daily, orally administered, tridentate iron chelator that is indicated in the treatment of iron overload resulting from regular packed red blood cell transfusions in patients with transfusion-dependent anemias, such as beta-thalassemia, sickle cell disease, myelodysplastic syndrome and other rare anemias. Randomized, controlled trials have established its efficacy to reduce liver iron concentration and serum ferritin levels to be comparable to the historic standard iron chelator, deferoxamine, which is administered as a parenteral infusion. However, deferasirox may be more effective than deferoxamine in actual clinical practice owing to the improvement in quality of life and, hence, increased compliance associated with the oral route of administration. The higher acquisition cost of deferasirox may be counterbalanced by savings in the administration cost, as well as the treatment of complications of iron overload that result from noncompliance with therapy attributable to the parenteral mode of administration. Deferasirox may also have potential as an important supplement and even an alternative to phlebotomies in nontransfusional, genetic iron overload disorders, such as hereditary hemochromatosis.