OBJECTIVES: This study evaluated the healthcare resource utilization in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis patients with highly active disease.

METHODS: Adult patients with ≥1 medical claim for MS diagnosis (G35/340) and ≥1 claim for a DMT were identified from a deidentified administrative claims database (between 1 Jan 2014 and 30 Sep 2019). Patients must have been continuously enrolled in a health plan (medical and pharmacy) for at least 1-year pre- and 1-year post-index (index: first MS claim). Overall and MS-related cost (both plan and patient paid) along with relapse burden were descriptively analyzed for 1-year post-index.

RESULTS: Of the 54,545 patients with ≥1 medical claim for MS and DMT, 11,407 were eligible for this study. Majority of patients were females (75%) and aged ≥40 years (77%). Approximately 30% of patients had one or more relapse during 1-year post index. The most commonly used DMTs both 1-year pre- and post-index were glatiramer acetate (41% and 28%), followed by dimethyl fumarate (19% and 26%), interferon Beta-1a (16% and 17%). Overall cost per patient during the 1-year post index was $72,718. MS-related cost per patient was 86% of overall cost ($62,186; Medical: $14.452, Pharmacy: $47,734). Pharmacy accounted for >70% of cost for both overall (71%) and MS-related cost (76%). Nearly 92% of MS-related cost ($57,243) was contributed by DMT, with ~64% attributed to first-generation DMTs (glatiramer acetate, dimethyl fumarate, interferon Beta-1a and interferon Beta-1b).

CONCLUSIONS: In RRMS patients with active disease, DMTs are the primary drivers of MS-related treatment cost. A relatively high DMT cost in the present study was expected given inclusion of patients receiving DMT at index. Inclusion of both incident and prevalent population might indicate to a representative population in a health plan. Further analysis in specific subpopulations, such as number of relapse, line of therapy, would provide more meaningful insights on key cost drivers.