Pharmacoeconomics of adalimumab for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and Crohn’s disease

Abstract

Adalimumab is a monoclonal antibody that inhibits TNF, an osteogenic cytokine involved in the pathogenesis of chronic, disabling inflammatory diseases. Adalimumab is indicated for rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and Crohn’s disease. It alleviates the symptoms of these diseases, prevents disease progression in some patients and, in the case of Crohn’s disease, induces and maintains remission. Compared with traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs that offer significantly less benefit, adalimumab is much more costly. However, most studies to date demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of adalimumab treatment. Cost-effectiveness data for newer indications of adalimumab, including ankylosing spondylitis and Crohn’s disease, are needed. As longer term data for adalimumab become available, the cost-effectiveness data will have greater precision.

Keywords::

• adalimumab
• ankylosing spondylitis
• cost-effectiveness
• Crohn’s disease
• fully human monoclonal antibody
• psoriatic arthritis
• rheumatoid arthritis
• TNF antagonist

Financial & competing interests disclosure

Dafna Gladman has consulted to a number of biologics companies, including Amgen, Abbott, Centrocor, Schering and Wyeth. 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.

The authors thank Tracey Fine, MS, ELS, of Fine Biomedical Publications Inc. and Dana Randall, MS, PharmD, of JK Associates Inc., for writing and editing assistance with the manuscript.