ERA PerMedSchiz – PERsonalized MEDicine in SCHIZophrenia

Cost-effectiveness analysis of a blood-based algorithm for stratifying patients with schizophrenia for add-on anti-inflammatory treatment

Schizophrenia is a disabling mental illness that affects millions of Europeans. While antipsychotic medications alleviate symptoms in one third of patients, one third exhibit persistent symptoms and one third do not respond at all. There is an urgent unmet need to identify reliable predictors of outcome and treatment response to guide personalized treatment. There is suggestion that levels of immune-related molecules in the blood can predict relapse and response to treatment in schizophrenia patients and that a subset of patients with pro-inflammatory signs in their blood can benefit from add-on anti-inflammatory drugs.

As part of this international collaborative project, a randomized clinical trial will be conducted with an objective to assess the clinical and cost-effectiveness of algorithm-based treatment stratification for schizophrenia in several European countries. The Department of Health Economics at the Medical University of Vienna leads the health economic research focusing on whether treatment stratification is cost-effective when compared to treatment as usual within the 6 months trial period and beyond using multi-national economic evaluation and modelling techniques. Results are expected to provide international evidence to the development of more effective and better optimized care for those with schizophrenia.

Dates: 2020-2023

Funding: European Commission – Horizon 2020

Collaborator(s):

·         Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

·         Copenhagen University Hospital

·         Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale

·         UMC Groningen

·         University Munich

Information: Judit Simon, Susanne Mayer, Nataša Perić, Daniel Heilig