Comparison of Real-World Costs between Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Subcutaneously-Administered Biologics Previously Treated with Another Biologic

Jennie H. Best¹, Paul Juneau² and Amanda Kong², ¹Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA, ²IBM Watson Health, Bethesda, MD

Meeting: 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

Keywords: Biologics, Health care cost and rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

Session Information

Date: Sunday, October 21, 2018

Title: Health Services Research Poster I – ACR/ARHP

Session Type: ACR/ARHP Combined Abstract Session

Session Time: 9:00AM-11:00AM

Background/Purpose: To compare real-world healthcare costs between patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who were treated with subcutaneously (SC) administered biologics after previously using at least one other biologic agent. Methods: Using the Truven Health MarketScan® Commercial and Medicare Supplemental data, adult RA patients initiating one of six SC biologics between January 1, 2014 and June 30, 2016 were identified. Episodes (patients could contribute more than one) of treatment were captured, starting with initiation of index SC biologic and ending with end of data, end of continuous enrollment, switch to new biologic, or gap of 90+ days without index medication. Per-month biologic costs and RA-related healthcare costs (defined as claims with an RA diagnosis code or drug code for RA medication) were measured during the variable-length episodes. Generalized estimating equations models (accounting for multiple episodes per person) were used to compare costs between biologic agents by year of initiation, adjusting for baseline demographics and clinical characteristics. Results: The sample comprised 10,464 episodes (from 8,418 patients). Biologics and number of episodes, by year of initiation 2014, 2015, 2016, were: tocilizumab—758, 557, 279; abatacept—970, 754, 453; adalimumab—1327, 1070, 526; etanercept—968, 888, 461; certolizumab—360, 330, 174; golimumab—284, 196, 109. Biologic costs accounted for 91-95% of total RA-related costs. Mean adjusted per month biologic costs, by year of initiation—2014, 2015, 2016—were: tocilizumab—$2900, $2765, $3065; abatacept—$3219, $3534, $4510; adalimumab—$3478, $4609, $5145; etanercept—$3129, $4222, $4154; certolizumab–$4196, $4697, $5780; golimumab—$3237, $3513, $4335. Tocilizumab per month costs were significantly lower (p<0.05) than abatacept (2015, 2016), adalimumab (2015, 2016), etanercept (2015, 2016), certolizumab (2014, 2015, 2016), and golimumab (2016). Conclusion: Among RA patients treated with SC biologics after using at least one other biologic, patients treated with tocilizumab generally had lower real-world costs than those treated with other SC therapies.

Disclosure: J. H. Best, Genentech, Inc., 3; P. Juneau, Truven Health Analytics, an IBM Coompany, 3; A. Kong, Truven Health Analytics, an IBM Company, 3.

To cite this abstract in AMA style:

Best JH, Juneau P, Kong A. Comparison of Real-World Costs between Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated with Subcutaneously-Administered Biologics Previously Treated with Another Biologic [abstract]. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2018; 70 (suppl 9). https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/comparison-of-real-world-costs-between-patients-with-rheumatoid-arthritis-treated-with-subcutaneously-administered-biologics-previously-treated-with-another-biologic/. Accessed .

« Back to 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/comparison-of-real-world-costs-between-patients-with-rheumatoid-arthritis-treated-with-subcutaneously-administered-biologics-previously-treated-with-another-biologic/