Cost-effectiveness analysis of in silico clinical trials of vascular stents

The world stent market has an estimated value of €6.4 billion, of which 37% is generated in the US and 10% in the EU. Coronary stents are now the most commonly implanted medical devices, with more than 1 million implanted annually. Coronary stents are currently the most widely used for treating symptomatic coronary disease. In this study, the traditional approach for today's clinical trials with only 10% success rate was described. Within the EU funded project InSilc (www.insilc.eu) was developed the innovative platform for designing, developing and assessing coronary stents. It consists of separate modules and some of them can be used as a standalone tool. Description of each module was given. Cost-effectiveness analysis described the calculation method of the prices of each module as well as platform as a whole, per one stent simulation. The average cost per patient for the execution of a real clinical trial was calculated. The calculated price for in silico trials is below breakeven point in comparison to real clinical trial.