Target Trial Emulation May Be the Missing Bridge Between Real-World Data and Cost-Effectiveness in Health Technology Assessment

On 3 April 2026, Singh and colleagues published a Med Decision Making study showing that target trial emulation using registry-based real-world data changed the estimated cost effectiveness of biologic treatment after first-line failure in rheumatoid arthritis, lifting the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio from about £34,700 per quality-adjusted life-year in the randomized-trial-only analysis to about £46,800 when real-world evidence informed the estimate.