Abstract
Purpose
Nonadherence to indicated therapy reduces treatment effectiveness and may increase cost of care. HUMIRA Complete, a Patient Support Program (PSP), aims to reduce nonadherence in patients prescribed adalimumab (ADA). The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between participation in the PSP and prescription abandonment rates among ADA-treated patients.
Patients and methods
This longitudinal study using patient-level data from AbbVie’s PSP linked with medical and pharmacy claims data included patients ≥18 years with an ADA-approved indication, ≥1 pharmacy claim for ADA, and available data ≥3 months before and ≥6 months after the index date (defined as the initial ADA claim [01/2015 to 02/2017]). Abandonment was defined as reversal of initial ADA prescription with no paid claim during 3-month follow-up. Abandonment rates were compared between PSP and non-PSP cohorts using multivariable logistic regression controlling for potentially confounding baseline characteristics.
Results
In 17,371 patients (9,851 PSP; 7,520 non-PSP), the overall abandonment rate was 10.8–16.8% across indications. The odds of ADA abandonment were 70% less for PSP vs non-PSP patients (5.6% vs 20.4%, odds ratio [OR]=0.30, [95% confidence interval (CI)=0.27–0.33] P<0.001), 38% less for patients using specialty vs retail pharmacy (OR=0.62, 95% CI=0.56–0.69, P<0.001), 20% less for those with income of $50–99K vs $0–49K (OR=0.80, 95% CI=0.69–0.92, P<0.01), and 78% greater for those with copayment of $26–100 vs $0–25 (OR=1.78, 95% CI=1.55–2.05, P<0.001).
Conclusion
Participation in the PSP, higher income, and using a specialty pharmacy were associated with lower odds of abandoning ADA therapy, whereas increased copayments were associated with greater abandonment. PSPs should be considered to improve initiation of ADA therapy.
Acknowledgment
Medical writing support was provided by Joann Hettasch, PhD, of JK Associates, Inc. (a member of the Fishawack Group of Companies), Conshohocken, PA, and was funded by AbbVie. Financial support for this study was provided by AbbVie. AbbVie participated in the interpretation of data, review, and approval of the publication. All authors contributed to the development of the publication and maintained control over the final content.
Disclosure
Diana Brixner received consulting fees from AbbVie, AstraZeneca, Becton Dickinson, Millcreek Outcomes Group, Sanofi, and UCB Pharma. Manish Mittal is an employee and stockholder of AbbVie. Dr David T Rubin received consulting fees from AbbVie, Abgenomics, Allergan, Inc., Arena Pharmaceuticals, Biomica, Boehringer Ingelheim, Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene Corp/Syneos, Check-cap, Dizal Pharmaceuticals, GalenPharma/Atlantica, Genentech/Roche, Gilead Sciences, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Lilly, Mahana Therapeutics, Medtronic, Narrow River Mgmt, Pfizer, Prometheus Laboratories, Reistone, Seres Therapeutics, Shire, Takeda, Target PharmaSolutions, Inc., and investigator-initiated grant support from Takeda. Philip Mease received grant/research support from AbbVie, Amgen, BMS, Celgene, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, SUN Pharma, UCB; received consulting fees from AbbVie, Amgen, BMS, Celgene, Galapagos, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Sun Pharma, and UCB; and was on the speakers bureau for AbbVie, Amgen, BMS, Celgene, Genentech, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, and UCB. Matthew Davis is an employee of Medicus Economics, which received payment from AbbVie to participate in this research. Arijit Ganguli is an employee and stockholder of AbbVie.
A Mark Fendrick reports personal fees from Merck, AstraZeneca, Trizetto, Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi, AbbVie, Amgen, Centivo, Community Oncology Association, Department of Defense, EmblemHealth, Exact Sciences, Freedman Health, Health at Scale Technologies, Health Management Associates, Lilly, MedZed, PenguinPay, Risalto, Sempre Health, State of Minnesota, Wellth, and Zansors. He also reports grants from AHRQ, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Gary and Mary West Health Policy Center, Laura & John Arnold Foundation, National Pharmaceutical Council, PCORI, PhRMA, RWJ Foundation, and the State of Michigan/CMS. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.