Zoll SSO2 Therapy Evaluated in Patients With STEMI in Two Studies

November 11, 2024—Zoll, an Asahi Kasei company, recently announced the results of two studies evaluating the economic burden of heart failure resulting from severe heart attack and the long-term cost-effectiveness of supersaturated oxygen (SSO2) therapy for heart attack treatment. Zoll advised that the results highlight the need for cost-effective therapies that improve quality of life and reduce the long-term economic burden of heart failure.

According to Zoll, its FDA-approved SSO2 therapy is indicated for anterior ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients who receive primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with stenting within 6 hours of symptom onset. Used immediately after primary PCI, SSO2 therapy delivers high levels of dissolved oxygen (7-10 times normal) directly to the heart to recover damaged tissue. Data have shown that SSO2 therapy is associated with lower rates of heart failure and death within 1 year. The therapy is approved by the FDA to reduce infarct size, noted the company.

As summarized in the company’s press release, the BOI STEMI study was a claims-based analysis to quantify the clinical and economic burden of STEMI in adult patients, including those who develop heart failure. Results from the study, conducted in collaboration with IQVIA, Inc., were presented at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s Nexus 2024 meeting held October 14-17 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The second study used the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) to evaluate the economic impact of reducing infarct size in adult anterior STEMI patients after treatment with SSO2 therapy as compared to standard of care. Findings from the ICER study, sponsored by Zoll in collaboration with the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), were presented during the late-breaking clinical trial sessions at TCT 2024, the 36th annual Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics annual scientific symposium of the CRF held October 27-30 in Washington, DC.

As summarized by Zoll, the BOI STEMI analysis evaluated health care claim forms for 3,236 STEMI survivors (aged 20-85 years), revealing that 34.4% of claims indicated a new diagnosis of heart failure on average within 2 months after STEMI. In the heart failure group, all-cause total health care cost was 31% higher compared to other survivors.

These BOI STEMI findings highlight the urgent need for improved, cost-effective therapies to improve STEMI survivors’ quality of life and reduce the long-term economic burden of heart failure, stated Zoll.

In the ICER study of the economic value of SSO2 therapy, Zoll advised that industry standards indicate that a highly cost-effective ICER is determined by a quality-adjusted life year (QALY) < $50,000. The ICER for SSO2 therapy demonstrated $12,926/QALY gained. The study concluded that SSO2 is highly cost-effective for anterior STEMI patients, reported the company.

“These results demonstrated that for patients with acute anterior STEMI undergoing primary PCI, the use of adjunctive SSO2 therapy on outcomes was highly cost-effective,” commented David Cohen, MD, in Zoll’s press release.

Dr. Cohen, Director of Academic Affairs at St. Francis Hospital in Roslyn, New York, continued, “The SSO2 ICER compares very favorably with many other therapies such as intravascular imaging for patients undergoing coronary stenting, microaxial flow pumps for patients undergoing high-risk PCI, and transcatheter mitral edge-to-edge repair for patients with severe functional mitral regurgitation.”