Cost of biologics per treated patient across immune-mediated inflammatory disease indications in a pharmacy benefit management setting: a retrospective cohort study.

PURPOSE: Pharmacy benefits management companies have emerged as the national standard for the management of prescription drugs in the United States. The objective of this study was to estimate the annual costs per treated patient of 8 biologics indicated for select immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis, moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, active psoriatic arthritis, and/or active ankylosing spondylitis. METHODS: Using the Medco pharmacy benefits-management database, data from patients aged 18 to 63 years with ≥1 claim for abatacept, adalimumab, certolizumab, etanercept, golimumab, infliximab, rituximab, or ustekinumab, dated between January 1, 2008 and August 31, 2011, were collected. Eligible patients were continuously enrolled for ≥180 days before and 360 days after the date of the first biologic claim (index date), and had ≥1 claim associated with a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis, moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, active psoriatic arthritis, and/or active ankylosing spondylitis in the 180 days before or 30 days after the index date. The annual total costs per treated patient were calculated as the total dose of the index biologic and all other biologics for which there was a claim in the postindex period, multiplied by the wholesale acquisition cost as of October 1, 2013, plus the costs associated with administrations (calculated as number of infusions multiplied by the 2013 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule costs). FINDINGS: Within the study population (N = 8306; 5356 (64.5%) women, 2950 men (35.5%), average age: 42.3 years (SD: 10.0)), the most commonly used biologics were etanercept (43.1%), adalimumab (31.0%), and infliximab (17.0%), which accounted for 91.1% of all biologic prescriptions. Total costs per treated patient across indications were as follows: adalimumab, $23,427 to $26,304; infliximab, $22,824 to $28,907; and etanercept, $21,468 to $27,748, whereas abatacept, certolizumab, golimumab, rituximab, and ustekinumab were associated with a larger range: $17,017 to $41,888. IMPLICATIONS: The present study provides insight into the prescribing patterns and cost differences among 8 biologic agents used for the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. This information may prove useful when designing a pharmacy benefits-management formulary.

Alteraciones en el electrorretinograma de los pacientes con distrofia muscular de duchenne y su relación con las deleciones del gen responsable de la enfermedad / Alterations in electroretinography of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy and their relationship with deletions of gene of the disease

La distrofia muscular tipo Duchenne es la más común y grave de las distrofias musculares, que afecta a uno de cada 3,500 varones nacidos vivos. La alta frecuencia con que han sido reportadas alteraciones en el electrorretinograma (ERG) en pacientes con distrofia muscular de Duchenne (DMD), demuestra una posible relación entre la actividad eléctrica de la retina y las mutaciones presentes en el gen DMD que codifica para la proteína distrofina, responsable del fenotipo DMD. La mutación más común del gen DMD son las deleciones del 70 % de los pacientes, y se presentan con una gran heterogeneidad al igual que el ERG, por lo que nos propusimos comparar estas variables para conocer si están o no relacionadas. Se estudiaron 22 pacientes con manifestaciones clínicas de DMD desde el punto de vista molecular y electrorretinográfico para lo cual se utilizó las técnicas de reacción en cadena de la polimerasa para chequear 18 regiones del gen, y el registro electrorretinográfico mesópico. El 69 % de los casos presentaron deleciones, las cuales varían en extensión y ubicación de las cuales el 80 % se encontraba en el extremo 3' del gen. Predominó el ERG de tipo negativo con marcada disminución de la onda B y A en límite inferior normal o también disminuida, con relación b/a menor de uno. Este tipo de ERG, estuvo relacionado con la presencia de deleción (p= 0,027) y su ubicación en el extremo 3' del gen (p= 0,03), con un nivel de significación de 0,05, por lo que se recomienda el estudio electrorretinográfico como un elemento para reforzar el diagnóstico y sospechar el sitio de la deleción.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most common and serious of all muscular distropies affecting one in 3 500 males born live. The high frequency of reported alterations in electroretinographies of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) proves that there is a possible relationship between the electrical activity of retina and the DMD gen mutations, a gen which codes for dystrophin protein responsible for DMD phenotype. The most common DMD gen mutation is deletions in 70 % of patients and they occured with a high heterogeneity as it happens in electro retinography; so we intended to compare these variables to find out whether thy are related. 22 patients with DMD clinical manifestations were studied from the molecular and electroretinographic viewpoints. Polymerase chain reaction technique was used to check 18 gen regions and the mesopic electroretinographic recording. 69 % of cases had deletions which varied in extension and location; 80 % of deletions was found in gen 3' extreme. ERG of negative type with marked reduction of B and A waves in normal lower limit or also decreased were predominant; b/a relation was under 1. This type of ERP was related to deletion (p=0,027) and its location in gen 3' extreme (p=0,03). The level of significance was 0,05, so we recommend the electroretinographic study as a way of strenghtening diagnosis and detecting the suspected deletion locus.