Evaluating the Impact of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) Drug Shortages on Patient Treatment Switching Patterns Using Real-World Data

OBJECTIVES: To track and evaluate pharmacy benefit and healthcare provider (HCP) driven switching volumes and patterns among patients treated with HGH before and after U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) report drug shortage periods using pharmacy claims data from the ICON’s Symphony Health Integrated Dataverse (IDV).

METHODS: Patients having an approved pharmacy claim between January 2022 and September 2023 for a HGH market project were identified using the IDV.

Switches were determined by creating claim clusters, using 18-day look-forward period from any claim with an initial submission for any HGH product. Two classifications were created based on the claim transaction activity patterns for these patients:

• Previously on product A, newly submitted for product A, and received product B, classified as a pharmacy benefit switch.
• Previously on product A, newly submitted for product B, and received product B, classified as a HCP driven switch.

RESULTS: Among identified patients, total switch volumes remained consistent from January through November of 2022, averaging 235 switch patients per month. Corresponding to the public announcement of a shortage of Norditropin, patient switch volume increased by 315% in December 2022; eventually peaking at 4,255 in March 2023, a 968% increase year-over-year. The majority of switch patients, 82% in Q1-2023 and 73% in Q2-2023, were switching from Norditropin on another HGH treatment. Males under the age of 18 were the most likely to undergo a treatment switch, accounting for 57% of the 13,835 patients switching during the shortage period. Factors including household income, race/ethnicity, education level were evaluated for variations and will be discussed within future poster presentations.

CONCLUSIONS: These real-world data illustrate the impact of drug shortages on patient treatments. Further investigation into the induvial populations affected and their outcomes is warranted.