OBJECTIVES: This study examined Crohn’s Disease (CD)-related health care resource utilization (HCRU) and costs among bio-experienced CD patients treated with biologics over a 2-year follow-up.

METHODS: This descriptive study used claims data pooled from Optum Clinformatics (09/2015 – 02/2020), IBM MarketScan (09/2015 – 09/2019), and IQVIA PharMetrics (09/2015 – 02/2020) databases. Adult patients with ≥1 CD medical claim and ≥1 medical/pharmacy claim for adalimumab [ADA], ustekinumab [UST], and vedolizumab [VDZ] were selected (index date=first biologic claim date). Patients were required to have continuous enrollment 12 months before (baseline) and 24 months after index date (follow-up). CD patients with prior biologic usage in the baseline period were defined as bio-experienced patients. Only confirmed CD patients identified by a claims-based algorithm were included in the study cohort. CD-related HCRU and costs were descriptively examined and reported.

RESULTS: A total of 1,121 bio-experienced CD patients were identified (502 [44.8%] UST, 402 [35.9%] VDZ and 217 [19.4%] ADA). Numerically, there were decreases in the proportion of patients with CD-related inpatient stays for UST (29.3% vs. 14.9%), VDZ (27.9% vs 19.9%) and ADA (13.4% vs. 9.7%) incurred in the second year of follow-up relative to baseline. UST had a numerically $7,754 annual mean decrease in CD-related inpatient costs in the second year of follow-up from baseline; while the mean annual inpatient costs decreased by $99 for VDZ and $5,574 for ADA, respectively. Proportion of patients with CD-related ER visits also decreased numerically for UST (28.1% baseline vs. 16.9% second year of follow-up), VDZ (26.6% vs. 18.2%), and ADA (12.9% vs. 9.2%). Decreasing trend was also observed for CD-related ER costs.

CONCLUSIONS: Among bio-experienced CD patients treated with biologics, numerically there were decreases in the proportion of patients with CD-related ER visits, inpatient stays, and associated costs in the second year of follow-up relative to baseline.