Multiple sclerosis disease modifying medicine utilisation in Australia

Brain health: time matters in multiple sclerosis

“…MS is a rapidly evolving specialty, and the publication dates of studies that investigate how treatment is initiated lag behind the available DMT options. According to the results of a number of studies, the most recent of which includes data from 2011, many people with MS do not start treatment with a DMT ( Table 5) (Margolis et al, 2011;Visser and van der Zande, 2011;Jokubaitis et al, 2013;Phillips et al, 2015), and most of those who do so receive an established DMT ( (Hollingworth et al, 2014). This study did not differentiate between DMT initiation, continuation and switching, but the results indicate a rapid change of attitude in a country where there are fewer obstacles than in other parts of the world and where treatment can be initiated with any approved therapy.…”

“…The proportion of people receiving treatment for MS who were given a newer DMT varied widely between countries in 2013 (Figure 13) (Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, 2013i;Wilsdon et al, 2013;Hollingworth et al, 2014;World Bank, 2015b) and even within countries. For example, data from Australia show that newer DMT use rose from 8% to 33% of total DMT use in 2011 and 2013, respectively.…”

“…a All newer DMTs available at the time that these studies were conducted have an evidence base supporting superior efficacy to that of an established DMT. The data were generated from DMT sales figures as described in the original sources (Wilsdon et al, 2013;Hollingworth et al, 2014), and therefore potentially include people with all forms of MS (relapsing or progressive), and do not differentiate between treatment initiation and treatment switching. All DMTs for Australia: calculation based on sales figures (Hollingworth et al, 2014), population (World Bank, 2015b) This is an author's draft of an accepted article submitted and published in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders DOI: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221103481630102X 59 6.…”

“…Given that newer DMTs tend to be more expensive than established DMTs , much of this difference appears related to affordability. A correlation exists between the proportion of people with MS who are on treatment and receiving a newer DMT and the per capita spending on health care (Figure 15) (Wilsdon et al, 2013;Hollingworth et al, 2014;World Health Organization, 2015).…”

“…The costs of DMTs, especially newer DMTs, are more likely to be reimbursed in higherincome countries than in lower-income countries (Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, 2013e;b;World Health Organization, 2015 This is an author's draft of an accepted article submitted and published in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders DOI: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221103481630102X 65 Figure 15. The prescription of newer DMTs (as a proportion of total DMTs) (Wilsdon et al, 2013;Hollingworth et al, 2014) is highest in countries with high per capita healthcare expenditure (World Health Organization, 2015).…”