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Study Examines Economics of Vedolizumab for IBD
San Diego—Biologics for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can be administered as self-injection or infusion. Infusions are associated with significant cost and time for hospitals and patients, requiring dedicated facilities, supplies, specialized pharmacies, and nursing staff. Patients may lose wages from time spent traveling to a care facility for therapy. Information regarding costs associated with the infusion therapy vedolizumab, a new infusion biologic FDA approved in May 2014 to treat IBD, is limited. In a new study, researchers investigated the economics of vedolizumab for IBD by estimating the costs associated with the drug and its administration from hospital and patient perspectives.
The study’s outcomes were presented at the AMCP meeting during a poster session titled Vedolizumab Infusion-Related Costs and Staff Time for Inflamma- tory Bowel Disease in the Hospital Setting.
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The researchers developed an economic model to assess costs among patients with IBD who received vedolizumab infusion therapy in an inpatient or ambulatory setting in Year 1 and thereafter. Costs quantified in the outcomes modeled included total annual costs per patient and costs associated with infusion administration at a hypothetical medical center from a US healthcare administrator and an IBD patient perspective. The analysis also included nondrug costs (eg, labor, nonlabor, laboratory, and patient costs) drawn from published literature. Costs were adjusted to 2014 US dollars.
The findings showed that infusion costs, unrelated to vedolizumab drug costs, were notable for both hospitals and patients. The projected total annual per IBD patient cost for vedolizumab was $42,313 in Year 1 and $37,116 in Year 2+. Drug costs were the highest overall contributing costs. Among all nondrug costs ($3761 in Year 1 and $3384 in Year 2+), labor accounted for 39% in Year 1 and 38% in Year 2+ ($1453 and $1272, respectively). Patient costs, consisting of lost wages and other indirect costs, represented the second highest source of overall nondrug costs ($1020 in Year 1 and $944 in Year 2+). Laboratory testing was the lowest nondrug cost at $251, which did not change from Year 1 to Year 2+. Infusion services accounted for 49% of all labor costs ($931 in Year 1 and $814 in Year 2+). Additionally, lost wages accounted for 88% of patient costs ($897 in Year 1 and $836 in Year 2+).
The researchers noted study limitations. Because vedolizumab is newly approved for IBD, the inputs for model components may not be accurate. Also, real-world data regarding usage is not available.
“Modeling institution-specific infusion costs may aid decision makers in assessing the nondrug- related impact of using infusion drugs for IBD,” the investigators concluded.—Eileen Koutnik- Fotopoulos
This study was supported by AbbVie Inc.
