New pharmacologic treatments for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) indicate favourable cost effectiveness; however, quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) gains were small, and less than half of the studies included a COPD-specific outcome.

Exacerbation and mortality rates were the main drivers of cost effectiveness.

According to the Quality of Health Economic Studies (QHES), the quality of the studies was generally sufficient, but most studies poorly reflected cost effectiveness in real life.