Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41856561›Full record

Trial reportRMD open2026

Cost-effectiveness of proactive therapeutic drug monitoring of maintenance infliximab treatment in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: results from a randomised controlled trial.

Teresa Holly, Marthe Kirkesaether Brun, Kristin Kaasen Jørgensen, Guro Løvik Goll, Joseph Sexton, Johanna Elin Gehin, Tore K Kvien, Jørgen Jahnsen, Sella A Provan, Nils Bolstad and 5 more

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in RMD open, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03074656 (A NORwegian Multicentre Randomised Controlled Trial Assessing the Effectiveness of Tailoring Infliximab Treatment by Therapeutic DRUg Monitoring - The NOR-DRUM Study), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03074656 nacompletednot on this map

A NORwegian Multicentre Randomised Controlled Trial Assessing the Effectiveness of Tailoring Infliximab Treatment by Therapeutic DRUg Monitoring - The NOR-DRUM Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorDiakonhjemmet HospitalRan2017 to 2020Enrolled611ConditionsRheumatoid Arthritis, Spondyloarthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, Crohn DiseaseArmsTherapeutic drug monitoring, Standard care
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

15 authors.

Teresa HollyInstitute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Marthe Kirkesaether BrunCenter for Treatment of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (REMEDY), Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Kristin Kaasen JørgensenInstitute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Guro Løvik GollInstitute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Joseph SextonCenter for Treatment of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (REMEDY), Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Johanna Elin GehinDepartment of Medical Biochemistry, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-9896-0223
Tore K KvienCenter for Treatment of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (REMEDY), Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-8441-3093
Jørgen JahnsenInstitute of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Sella A ProvanCenter for Treatment of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (REMEDY), Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0001-5442-902X
Nils BolstadDepartment of Medical Biochemistry, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Eline AasInstitute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-9878-6165
Espen A HaavardsholmCenter for Treatment of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (REMEDY), Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
Ivar S KristiansenInstitute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
Silje Watterdal Syversen *Institute of Health and Society, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.ORCID 0000-0003-2159-3696
Gunhild Hagen *Center for Treatment of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases (REMEDY), Diakonhjemmet Hospital, Oslo, Norway gunhild.hagen@diakonsyk.no.ORCID 0000-0001-7464-9652

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveProactive therapeutic drug monitoring (pTDM) intends to optimise tumour necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitor treatment through regular assessment of drug and antidrug antibody levels, enabling individualised dosing. However, health economic evidence for this strategy is limited. This study aims to evaluate the health benefits and costs of pTDM with infliximab compared with standard therapy.

methodsBased on the 52-week randomised, controlled, open-label, multicentre Norwegian Drug Monitoring trial (NOR-DRUM) B trial, we estimated the cost-effectiveness of pTDM compared with standard infliximab maintenance therapy in patients with six different immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. For each patient (n=454), we estimated the 12-month healthcare costs, including pharmaceuticals, biochemical tests and other types of resource use. Reported in 2024 Euros, unit costs were based on market prices, diagnosis-related group cost weights and reimbursement schedules. We evaluated health outcomes with quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs), using the EuroQol five-dimension, three-level questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L) and Short Form six-dimension health utility measure (SF-6D). Indicator of cost-effectiveness was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio, expressed as Euros/QALY, compared with an assumed cost-effectiveness threshold value of €23 755. We assessed sampling uncertainty using the non-parametric bootstrap.

resultsThe mean 1-year cost per patient in the pTDM group was lower than in the standard therapy group, with a difference of €592 (95% CI -1304 to 107), while the QALYs based on EQ-5D-3L were 0.0018 higher (95% CI -0.0126 to 0.0165). Based on the bootstrap results, pTDM has a probability of 95% of being cost-effective. In explorative subgroup analyses, pTDM appeared cost-effective for some, but not all diagnoses.

conclusionpTDM is very likely a cost-effective treatment strategy for patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases on infliximab maintenance therapy. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03074656.

Indexed as

Drug MonitoringInflammationInfliximabAdultAgedCost-Benefit AnalysisFemaleHealth Care CostsHumansMaleMiddle AgedNorwayQuality-Adjusted Life YearsTreatment OutcomeInfliximabclinical trialeconomicshealth services researchinfliximab

Identifiers

PMID41856561
PMCPMC13007184

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Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.