OBJECTIVES: Psoriasis affects ≈7.4 million US adults. As psoriasis progresses, patients may switch therapies. This study compared treatment switching and total cost of care among biologic-naive psoriasis patients who initiated treatment with apremilast or biologics.

METHODS: Adults with psoriasis were selected if they had initiated apremilast or biologics from January 1, 2014‒September 30, 2016, and had a minimum 12 months of pre- and post-index continuous enrollment in the Optum Clinformatics™ claims database. Patients initiating apremilast were 1:2 propensity score matched (PSM) to patients initiating biologics. Switch was defined as a claim for a new psoriasis therapy after initiation of the index medication. Days to switch was defined as the number of days between the index date and date of switch to a new psoriasis therapy. Total direct healthcare costs were measured during follow-up by type of service and based on standard prices in the Optum database. T-test, chi-square test, and Wilcoxon rank-sum test were used to evaluate differences between the 2 cohorts for continuous and categorical variables as appropriate.

RESULTS: