Impact of Mode of Drug Delivery Administration on Healthcare Costs in a Medicare Fee for Service Population
Speaker(s)
Zhang H1, Zhang Q2, Nair K3, Gao R1, Haji B1, Tahami Monfared AA1
1Eisai, Nutley, NJ, USA, 2Eisai Inc, Nutley, NJ, USA, 3University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA
OBJECTIVES: Healthcare costs associated with the intravenous infusion (IV) vs subcutaneous injection (SC) of belimumab for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and tocilizumab for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were examined respectively.
METHODS: Medicare patients were identified up to 3 years after FDA approval dates of the IV and SC drug formulations from Medicare fee-for-service data. Mean inpatient, outpatient, and drug costs were descriptively compared to understand if the drug delivery system influenced costs. Costs were adjusted to 2024 dollars.
RESULTS: IV belimumab was examined between 2012-2014 (n=457,605, 615); SC belimumab was examined between 2018-2020 (n=255, 396, 546). IV tocilizumab was examined between 2011-2013 (n= 1484, 2294, 3013); SC tocilizumab was examined between 2013-2015 (n=367, 357, 307). Mean age was 70-71 years for both belimumab cohorts; over 88% female; was 73-74 years for both tocilizumab cohorts and over 80% female. For the IV belimumab cohort, inpatient costs were $31,918, $26,129, and $24,924 and decreased by 31% in the first year (2108) that SC belimumab was introduced. Subsequent years saw increases of 8% and 38%. Outpatient costs were $13,161, $12,784, and $11,374 during the IV belimumab period and saw consistent decreases ranging from 27-35%. Drug costs saw consistent increases moving from an IV to SC formulation of 23%, 28%, 35% annually.
For the IV tocilizumab cohort, inpatient costs were $21,561, $26,350, and $26,346 and increased by 2% the first year SC tocilizumab was introduced. Subsequent years saw increases of 3% and 13%. Outpatient costs were $11,327, $11,297, and $10,566 during the IV tocilizumab period and saw decreases ranging from 5-13%. Drug costs saw consistent increases moving from IV to a SC formulation from 41%, 36%, 32% annually.CONCLUSIONS: While inpatient costs fluctuated, outpatient costs consistently decreased and therapy costs consistently increased for belimumab and tocilizumab transitioning from IV to SC in Medicare FFS.
Code
EE141
Topic
Economic Evaluation, Epidemiology & Public Health, Real World Data & Information Systems
Topic Subcategory
Health & Insurance Records Systems, Public Health
Disease
No Additional Disease & Conditions/Specialized Treatment Areas, Systemic Disorders/Conditions (Anesthesia, Auto-Immune Disorders (n.e.c.), Hematological Disorders (non-oncologic), Pain)