Treatment Patterns, Direct Cost of Biologics, and Direct Medical Costs for Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients: A Real-world Analysis of Nationwide Japanese Claims Data

Abstract

Considered costs and discontinuation and switching event rates were lowest with ETN versus IFX, ADA, or TCZ used as the first-line biologic. Despite limitations, these findings imply clinical cost-reductive benefits of ETN as the first-line biologic treatment option for rheumatoid arthritis in Japan.

Switching and Discontinuation Pattern of Biologic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs and Tofacitinib for Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis in Taiwan

“…In recent years, the usage pattern, patient adherence, and persistence to tofacitinib in clinical practice have emerged from real-world studies ( Caporali and Zavaglia, 2019 ). Nevertheless, a regional variation on the usage pattern of bDMARDs and tofacitinib in Asia, such as Japan, may be present due to the nature of individual healthcare systems, economic considerations, patient characteristics, and risk factors as compared to Western countries ( Harnett et al, 2016 ; Sugiyama et al, 2016 ; Bonafede et al, 2018 ). Therefore, a large scale, population-based cohort study can help us to understand the treatment changes in RA and fill the literature gap among the Asian population.…”

Effect of Golimumab Dose Escalation in Japanese Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Post-Hoc Analysis of Post-Marketing Surveillance Data

“…In real-world daily practice, dose escalation of GLM seems to achieve better control in RA patients with higher disease activity [9]. However, dose escalation of biologic agents needs to be carefully appraised since this approach can lead to higher medical costs [10] that impose a greater burden on the healthcare system.…”

Efficacy and safety of subcutaneous infliximab versus adalimumab, etanercept and intravenous infliximab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis

“…when a treatment target is not met) [4][5][6]. Of the five currently available anti-TNFs, infliximab, etanercept and adalimumab are the most commonly prescribed, collectively accounting for around 90% of anti-TNF prescriptions for RA [7][8][9][10]. Reference product adalimumab (Humira; AbbVie Inc., North Chicago, IL), reference product infliximab (Remicade; Janssen Biotech, Horsham, PA) and reference product etanercept (Enbrel; Immunex Corporation, Thousand Oaks, CA) are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for indications including RA [11][12][13][14][15][16].…”