Treatment patterns following initiation of generic glatiramer acetate among patients with multiple sclerosis from two large real-world databases in the United States

Abstract

Introduction

To better understand treatment patterns in US patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) initiating generic glatiramer acetate (GA), this study examined adherence, discontinuation and switching patterns from generic follow-on glatiramer acetate (FOGA) therapy in real-world patient cohorts.

Methods

Retrospective analyses utilized data from two large US databases (administrative claims and linked electronic medical records). Eligible adult MS patients had ≥1 pharmacy claim for FOGA during the identification period; the first FOGA claim was the index date. All analyses were descriptive; proportion of days covered (PDC) was calculated as a measure of adherence to FOGA during the follow-up period.

Results

The first cohort consisted of 95 patients, with 93.6% having a branded GA claim for Copaxone during the baseline period. Half these patients (48.4%) had high adherence to FOGA therapy (PDC: 0.8–1.0). Fifty-five patients (57.9%) initially discontinued FOGA with a mean persistence of 112 days. Of those who discontinued, 7.3% had no subsequent disease-modifying therapy (DMT), 30.9% restarted FOGA and 61.8% did not restart FOGA. The second cohort consisted of 1957 patients, with 63.8% having a branded GA claim for Copaxone during the baseline period and 33.5% were treatment naïve. The majority of patients (61.9%) had high adherence to FOGA therapy. A total of 1597 patients (81.6%) initially discontinued FOGA with a mean persistence of 93 days. Of those who discontinued, 55.8% switched to another DMT, 16.7% restarted FOGA and 37.5% had no subsequent DMT.

Conclusion

Adherence to FOGA therapy was reasonably high across cohorts; however, most patients discontinued their initial FOGA within four months of the index date and most switches from FOGA were to branded GA products.

Keywords:

• Relapsing multiple sclerosis
• disease-modifying therapies
• treatment discontinuation
• adherence
• switching

Transparency

Declaration of funding

This study was funded by Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Declaration of financial/other relationships

J.K.A., R.A., M.V. and J.K. have disclosed that they are employees of and own stock in Teva Pharmaceuticals. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed. CMRO peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Jason Allaire PhD of Generativity Health Economics and Outcomes Research for help with editing this paper.

Notes

i Copaxone is a registered trade name of Teva Pharmaceuticals USA Inc., Parsippany, NJ, USA.

ii Glatopa is a registered trade name of Sandoz Inc., Princeton, NJ, USA.