Economic Impact of Blister-Packaging on Medication Adherence in First-Line Multiple Myeloma Treatment
Author(s)
Eric P. Borrelli, PhD, PharmD, MBA1, Nathan E. Barnes, PharmD, MHA2, Heather Nelkin, PharmD, MBA, BCOP3, Peter Saad, PharmD, MBA2, Doina Dumitru, PharmD, MBA, FASHP3, Julia Lucaci, PharmD, MS4.
1Manager, HEOR, Becton, Dickinson and Company, San Diego, CA, USA, 2Becton, Dickinson and Company, Durham, NC, USA, 3Becton, Dickinson and Company, San Diego, CA, USA, 4Becton, Dickinson and Company, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA.
1Manager, HEOR, Becton, Dickinson and Company, San Diego, CA, USA, 2Becton, Dickinson and Company, Durham, NC, USA, 3Becton, Dickinson and Company, San Diego, CA, USA, 4Becton, Dickinson and Company, Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA.
Presentation Documents
OBJECTIVES: Medication nonadherence for oral oncolytics is common, leading to worsened outcomes, disease progression, increased mortality, and higher healthcare costs. Multiple myeloma (MM) is a severe and highly prevalent blood cancer with a U.S. prevalence of 157,561 and 5-year survival rate of 58%. Blister-packaging medications has shown to improve adherence; however, its impact has not been evaluated in oncology. The objective of this study was to model the impact of blister-packing first-line oral oncolytics on healthcare costs in MM.
METHODS: An economic model was developed to estimate the impact of blister-packing first-line oral oncolytics for treating MM on healthcare costs through increased medication adherence (defined as PDC at least 80%). The perspective of the model was the U.S. healthcare system, utilizing a one-year time-horizon. Input parameters were derived from peer-reviewed literature, with costs being adjusted to 2024 U.S. dollars. The number of patients in the model was the U.S. incidence of MM in 2024 (35,780 patients), of which 28.9% were adherent before intervention. The patients adherent to therapy increased by 13%. Per-patient impacts of adherence included increases in medication costs (+$81,542), medical cost reductions (-$124,895), total healthcare cost savings (-$43,353). Results were stratified by patient demographics.
RESULTS: In the base-case pre-blister-package intervention, 10,340 patients were adherent to first-line MM oral oncolytics. Post-intervention, adherence increased to 11,685 patients adherent (32.7%, 1,344 new patients adherent; 3.8-percentage-point increase). While medication costs increased by $109,613,209, medical costs decreased by $167,890,678, resulting in a net total healthcare cost reduction of -$58,277,470. Per-patient per-month impacts included medication costs (+$255.29), medical cost savings (-$391.03), and total healthcare cost savings (-$135.73).
CONCLUSIONS: Blister-packaging for MM has the potential to improve medication adherence and reduce healthcare costs. Future studies are needed to validate these findings in real-world settings.
METHODS: An economic model was developed to estimate the impact of blister-packing first-line oral oncolytics for treating MM on healthcare costs through increased medication adherence (defined as PDC at least 80%). The perspective of the model was the U.S. healthcare system, utilizing a one-year time-horizon. Input parameters were derived from peer-reviewed literature, with costs being adjusted to 2024 U.S. dollars. The number of patients in the model was the U.S. incidence of MM in 2024 (35,780 patients), of which 28.9% were adherent before intervention. The patients adherent to therapy increased by 13%. Per-patient impacts of adherence included increases in medication costs (+$81,542), medical cost reductions (-$124,895), total healthcare cost savings (-$43,353). Results were stratified by patient demographics.
RESULTS: In the base-case pre-blister-package intervention, 10,340 patients were adherent to first-line MM oral oncolytics. Post-intervention, adherence increased to 11,685 patients adherent (32.7%, 1,344 new patients adherent; 3.8-percentage-point increase). While medication costs increased by $109,613,209, medical costs decreased by $167,890,678, resulting in a net total healthcare cost reduction of -$58,277,470. Per-patient per-month impacts included medication costs (+$255.29), medical cost savings (-$391.03), and total healthcare cost savings (-$135.73).
CONCLUSIONS: Blister-packaging for MM has the potential to improve medication adherence and reduce healthcare costs. Future studies are needed to validate these findings in real-world settings.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2025-05, ISPOR 2025, Montréal, Quebec, CA
Value in Health, Volume 28, Issue S1
Code
EE240
Topic
Economic Evaluation
Topic Subcategory
Budget Impact Analysis, Cost/Cost of Illness/Resource Use Studies
Disease
SDC: Oncology