Use and costs of originator and biosimilar erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced anemia: real-world evidence from an Italian hospital

Future Oncol. 2019 Jan;15(1):45-51. doi: 10.2217/fon-2018-0333. Epub 2018 Nov 23.

Abstract

The aim of this retrospective study is to evaluate adherence, switch and costs a year after the start of treatment with different erythropoietin-stimulating agents. There were 277 patients, 200 were originators (72.20%) and 77 (27.80%) were biosimilars. Adherence to treatment for originators is 0.84 ± 0.22 versus 0.76 ± 0.27 for biosimilars (p = 0.3241). Medication adherence was calculated as ratio between received daily dose to prescribed daily dose. The optimum value is 1, values less than 1 indicate loss of adherence. The cost of treatment per year is €7365 per patient for the use of the originator drug versus €2587 for biosimilars, with a difference of €4777 per patient.

Keywords: CIA; ESAs; PDD; RDD; biosimilars; chemotherapy-induced anemia; cost per prescribed daily dose; cost-saving; drug-used study; erythropoietin-stimulating agents; medication adherence; real-word data; received daily dose.

MeSH terms

  • Anemia / chemically induced*
  • Anemia / drug therapy*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / adverse effects*
  • Antineoplastic Agents / therapeutic use
  • Biosimilar Pharmaceuticals / economics
  • Biosimilar Pharmaceuticals / therapeutic use*
  • Drug Costs
  • Hematinics / economics
  • Hematinics / therapeutic use*
  • Humans
  • Italy
  • Patient Compliance / statistics & numerical data
  • Retrospective Studies

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Biosimilar Pharmaceuticals
  • Hematinics