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Abstract #19788 Published in IGR 9-4
Refill rates and budget impact of glaucoma lipid therapy: A retrospective database analysis
Walt JG; Wilensky JT; Fiscella R; Chiang TH; Guckian AClinical Drug Investigation 2007; 27: 819-825
See also comment(s) by Angelo Tanna •
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Drugs in the lipid class of glaucoma medications, including bimatoprost, travoprost and latanoprost, are effective at lowering intraocular pressure. In addition to clinical efficacy, the budget impact of long-term therapy with each medication is important for patients, physicians and managed-care decision makers to differentiate between the products and make informed decisions regarding the choice of therapy. This study aimed to determine the average number of days between refills for latanoprost, travoprost and bimatoprost, and to estimate the potential effect of differences in refill rates on pharmacy budgets. METHODS: In this retrospective database analysis of pharmacy records, the dispensing patterns of patients with glaucoma lipid therapies were obtained. Patients with a pharmacy prescription for the 2.5 mL bottle of latanoprost, travoprost or bimatoprost between September 2002 and December 2002, and receiving continuous treatment defined as having at least one prescription for the same lipid agent and bottle size one year later between September 2003 and December 2003, were included in this study. The main outcome measures were mean number of days between refills, mean number of refills, cost per patient per year (based on the average wholesale price [AWP]), and annual refill cost differences between cohorts. RESULTS: The mean number of days between refills was 46.74 days, 53.65 days and 51.98 days for latanoprost, travoprost and bimatoprost, respectively (p < 0.0001, ANOVA). The mean number of refills per year was 7.1, 6.2 and 6.4 for latanoprost, travoprost and bimatoprost, respectively. Based on this and the AWP, the average cost per patient per year was US$435.16 for latanoprost, US$385.58 for travoprost and US$397.44 for bimatoprost. The cost savings per year if the population of patients using latanoprost (n = 79 820) used bimatoprost or travoprost instead would be approximately US$3.0-US$3.9 million. CONCLUSION: A statistically significant difference in mean days between refills was found among the three studied drugs. Latanoprost presented the highest annual cost followed by bimatoprost and travoprost.
Dr. J.G. Walt, Allergan, Inc., 2525 Dupont Drive, Irvine, CA 92612, USA. Walt_john@allergan.com
Classification:
14 Costing studies; pharmacoeconomics
11.4 Prostaglandins (Part of: 11 Medical treatment)
