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Rasha Khatib,1 Eric J Yeh,2 Nicole Glowacki,1 Catherine B McGuiness,3 Handing Xie,4 Rolin L Wade,4 Bethany A Kalich,5 Yi Li,6 Abdelhadi Rifai,7 Neal Sawlani8 1Academic Research and Strategic Partnership, Advocate Aurora Research Institute, Advocate Aurora Health, Downers Grove, IL, USA; 2Global Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR), Amgen Inc, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA; 3Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Real-World Evidence, IQVIA, Wayne, PA, USA; 4IQVIA, Wayne, PA, USA; 5Amgen Inc, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA; 6R&D Solutions, IQVIA, Bloomington, IL, USA; 7Heart & Vascular Institute, Cheyenne Regional Medical Group, Cheyenne, WY, USA; 8Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Park Ridge, IL, USACorrespondence: Rasha Khatib, Academic Research and Strategic Partnership, Advocate Aurora Research Institute, Advocate Aurora Health, 3075 Highland Parkway, Suite 600, Downers Grove, IL, 60515, USA, Tel +1 708.684.3691, Email rasha.alkhatib@aah.orgIntroduction: Clinical practice guidelines recommend initiating a high-intensity LLT and continued monitoring of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) following acute coronary syndrome (ACS). We used real-world data to describe LLT utilization after discharge and 1-year adherence. The reduction in LDL-C was also evaluated.Methods: Data were extracted from electronic health records (EHRs) from 12 hospitals in a large community healthcare system in midwestern United States between 2013 and 2019. Data on eligible patients recently discharged with an ACS event were linked to pharmacy claims data to describe LLT fill rates and 1-year post-discharge adherence. Adherence was reported as the proportion of days covered ≥ 80%.Results: Of the 10,589 eligible patients, 49% filled a high-intensity statin at discharge and only 36% were adherent at 1 year. The mean (SD) age was 66.1± 13.3, 39.3% were females, 58.8% were Caucasian, and 53.0% had Medicare. There was a clear trend for greater fill rates at discharge among patients with higher LDL-C values than those with lower values (p< 0.01). Key predictors of high-intensity (versus medium-intensity) LLT use within 21 days after an ACS event included ACS type (odds ratio [OR] 0.59; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.52– 0.67 for NSTEMI versus STEMI), age group (OR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.48– 0.72 for > 75 years versus < 65 years), and statin use before index ACS event (OR: 1.56; 95% CI: 1.23– 1.88).Conclusion: This real-world study found that despite recommendations in clinical practice guidelines, high-intensity LLT fill rates at discharge and 1-year adherence to LLT remain suboptimal. Clinical characteristics, including ACS type and LDL-C values, were strong predictors of filling and adherence to guideline-recommended therapy. Age, sex, and race/ethnicity disparities were observed in discharge fill rates and 1-year adherence. These results highlight the need for continued efforts at the patient and provider levels to improve LLT adherence among ACS patients.Keywords: lipid-lowering therapy, high-intensity statin, acute coronary syndrome, real-world data, prescribing, adherence

Several risk factors for severe hypoglycaemia (SH) are associated with insulin-treated diabetes. This study explored potential risk factors in adults with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).In this case-control study, adults with T2DM initiating insulin were identified in the IQVIA PharMetrics® Plus database. The index date was the date of the first SH event (cases). Using incidence-density sampling, controls were selected from those who had been exposed 'at risk' of SH for the same amount of time as each case. After exact-matching on the well-established factors, previously unreported risk factors were evaluated through conditional logistic regression.In 3153 case-control pairs, pregnancy [odds ratios (OR) = 3.20, p = .0003], alcohol abuse (OR = 2.43, p .0001), short-/rapid-acting insulin (OR = 2.22/1.47, p .0001), cancer (OR = 1.87, p .0001), dementia/Alzheimer's disease (OR = 1.73, p = .0175), peripheral vascular disease (OR = 1.59, p .0001), antipsychotics (OR = 1.59; p = .0059), anxiolytics (OR = 1.51, p = .0012), paralysis/hemiplegia/paraplegia (OR = 1.51, p = .0416), hepatitis (OR = 1.50, p = .0303), congestive heart failure (OR = 1.47, p = .0002), adrenergic-corticosteroid combinations (OR = 1.45, p = .0165), β-adrenoceptor agonists (OR = 1.40, p = .0225), opioids (OR = 1.38, p .0001), corticosteroids (OR = 1.35, p = .0159), cardiac arrhythmia (OR = 1.29. p = .0065), smoking (OR = 1.28, p = .005), Charlson Comorbidity Index score 2 (OR = 1.28, p = .0026), 3 (OR = 1.41, p = .0016) or ≥4 (OR = 1.57, p = .0002), liver/gallbladder/pancreatic disease (OR = 1.26, p = .0182) and hypertension (OR = 1.19, p = .0164) were independently associated with SH.Although all people with insulin-treated diabetes are at risk of SH, these results have identified some previously unrecognized risk factors and sub-groups of insulin-treated adults with T2DM at greater risk. Scrutiny of current therapies and comorbidities are advised as well as additional glucose monitoring and education, when identifying and managing SH in vulnerable populations.

Author(s): Fonarow, Gregg C; Kosiborod, Mikhail N; Rane, Pallavi B; Nunna, Sasikiran; Villa, Guillermo; Habib, Mohdhar; Arellano, Jorge; Mues, Katherine E; Sun, Kainan; Wade, Rolin L | Abstract: BackgroundThe risk for subsequent major cardiovascular (CV) events among patients with very high-risk (VHR) atherosclerotic CV disease (ASCVD) remains to be fully elucidated.HypothesisWe assessed the characteristics and major CV event rates of patients with VHR versus non-VHR ASCVD in a real-world setting in the United States (US), hypothesizing that patients with VHR ASCVD would have higher CV event rates.MethodsThis was a retrospective cohort study conducted from January 01, 2011, to June 30, 2018, in the US using the Prognos LDL-C database linked to the IQVIA PharMetrics Plus® database supplemented with the IQVIA prescription claims (Dx/LRx) databases. Patients were ≥18 years old and had ≥2 non-ancillary medical claims in the linked databases at least 30 days apart. The study was conducted in 2 stages: (1) identification of patients with ASCVD who met the definition of VHR ASCVD and a matched cohort of non-VHR ASCVD patients using the incidence density sampling (IDS) approach; (2) estimation of the occurrence of major CV events.ResultsAmong patients with ≥1 major ASCVD event (N=147,679), most qualified as VHR ASCVD (79.5%). There were 115,460 patients each in IDS-matched VHR and non-VHR ASCVD cohorts. The composite myocardial infarction/ischemic stroke event rates in the VHR and non-VHR ASCVD cohorts were 8.04 (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 7.87-8.22) and 0.82 (95% CI: 0.77-0.88) events per 100 patient-years, respectively, during the 1-year post-index period.ConclusionsMost patients with ≥1 previous major ASCVD event treated in real-world US clinical practice qualified as VHR ASCVD. Patients with VHR ASCVD had much higher rates of major CV events versus non-VHR ASCVD patients.

Summary Among women ≥ 50 years with fracture, 76% had not received osteoporosis diagnosis or treatment at 6 months and only 14% underwent a DXA scan. Nearly half of all and 90% of hip fracture patients required surgery. Fractures cause substantial clinical burden and are not linked to osteoporosis diagnosis or treatment. Purpose Osteoporosis (OP) and OP-related fractures are a major public health concern, associated with significant economic burden. This study describes management patterns following a nontraumatic fracture for commercially insured patients. Methods This retrospective cohort study identified women aged ≥ 50 years having their first nontraumatic index fracture (IF) between January 1, 2015 and June 30, 2019, from IQVIA’s PharMetrics® Plus claims database. Medical management patterns at month 6 and medication use patterns at months 6, 12, and 24 following the IF were described. Results Among 48,939 women (mean (SD) age: 62.7 (9.5) years), the most common fracture types were vertebral (30.6%), radius/ulna (24.9%), and hip (HF; 12.1%). By month 6, 76% of patients had not received an OP diagnosis or treatment, 13.6% underwent a DXA scan, and 11.2% received any OP treatment. Surgery was required in 43.1% of all patients and 90.0% of HF patients on or within 6 months of the fracture date. Among HF patients, 41.4% were admitted to a skilled nursing facility, 96.7% were hospitalized an average of 5.5 days, and 38.1% required durable medical equipment use. The 30-day all-cause readmission rate was 14.3% among those hospitalized for the IF. Overall, 7.4%, 9.9%, and 13.2% had a subsequent fracture at months 6, 12, and 24, respectively. Conclusion Our findings provide an overview of post-fracture management patterns using real-world data. OP was remarkably underdiagnosed and undertreated following the initial fracture. Nontraumatic fracture, particularly HF, resulted in substantial ongoing clinical burden.

To evaluate the prevalence and risk factors of migraine progression and to assess the incremental burden of migraine progression on healthcare systems.Adult patients were required to have a migraine diagnosis in IQVIA's US adjudicated claims database between 1 January 2012 and 30 June 2016, continuous enrollment ≥12 months before and after the index date (i.e. the first observed migraine diagnosis), and ≥1 additional migraine diagnosis claim during the 12-month post-index period. A previously-developed algorithm identified patients with prevention-eligible episodic migraine (EM). All-cause healthcare resource utilization (HCRU) and costs were evaluated at baseline, over the follow-up period and pre/post progression from prevention-eligible EM to chronic migraine. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate risk factors associated with progression.Of the 125,436 patients with prevention-eligible EM that were initially identified, 5,790 (4.6%) were further identified as progressed. Patients who progressed had higher healthcare costs and higher medication use at baseline compared to patients that did not progress. Mean (SD) all-cause total costs per patient per month were $1,790 ($3,788), significantly higher in the post-progression period compared to $1,414 ($2,456) in the pre-progression period in patients who progressed (

In the United States, the incidence of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) has steadily increased over the last decade; in 2019, it was estimated that AML would affect 21,450 new patients and lead to 10,920 deaths. Detailed real-world cost estimates and comparisons of key AML treatment episodes, such as in high-intensity chemotherapy (HIC), low-intensity chemotherapy (LIC), hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), and relapsed/refractory (R/R), are scarce in the commercially insured U.S.To examine health resource utilization (HRU), clinical burden, and direct health care costs across various AML treatment episodes in a large sample of commercially insured U.S.A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted. Patients with newly diagnosed AML were followed to identify the key active treatment episodes across the course of their disease. Data were obtained from 2 sources: IQVIA's Real-World Data (RWD) Adjudicated Claims Database - U.S. (formerly known as PharMetrics Plus), which comprises adjudicated claims for more than 150 million unique enrollees across the United States, and IQVIA Charge Detail Master Hospital Database, which has detailed data regarding services received in an inpatient setting. Calculation of all-cause HRU was based on physician office visits, nonphysician office visits, emergency department visits, inpatient visits, and outpatient pharmacy utilization. Calculation of all-cause health care costs was based on total allowed costs and reported by the following cost components: physician office visits, nonphysician office visits, emergency department visits, inpatient visits, and outpatient pharmacy utilization. Symptom and toxicity events were estimated via proxies such as diagnosis codes, procedures, and treatments administered.The final study sample consisted of 1,542 HIC-induction (HIC-I), 591 HIC-consolidation (HIC-C), 628 LIC, 1,000 patients with HSCT, and 707 patients with R/R AML. Total mean episode costs were highest in R/R episodes ($439,104), followed by HSCT ($329,621), HIC-I ($198,657), HIC-C ($73,428), and LIC ($53,081) episodes. Across all treatment episodes, hospitalization was the largest contributor to cost with mean hospitalization costs ranging from $308,978 in the R/R setting to $49,580 for patients receiving LIC; of these, costs related to intensive care unit admission were a noteworthy contributor. In patients with R/R AML and HSCT, expenditures related to pharmacy utilization averaged $24,640 and $12,203, respectively, and expenditures related to physician office visits averaged $10,926 and $6,090, respectively; these expenditures were much lower across other episodes. Across all categories of symptom and toxicity events, cardiovascular events was the only category of event that was a significant predictor of higher cost across all episodes. Symptom and toxicity events commonly associated with AML were associated with significantly increased costs, especially in R/R episodes.This resource utilization and direct health care cost analysis highlights the substantial economic burden associated with key AML treatment episodes in the United States, specifically during HIC-I, HSCT, and R/R episodes.This study was funded by Astellas Pharma. Astellas employees were involved in the study design, interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript, and the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. Pandya and Wilson are employees of Astellas Pharma U.S. Walsh was an employee of Astellas Pharma U.S. while the study was conducted. Chen, McGuiness, and Wade are employees of IQVIA, which received funding from Astellas Pharma U.S. Madeiros was employed at Stanford University while this study was conducted and received a consulting fee from Astellas for work on this study. Data discussed in this study were previously presented at the 59th Annual American Society for Hematology MeetingExposition, 2017; December 9-12, 2017; Atlanta, GA.

Objective To assess adherence and persistence with first-line single-tablet regimen (STR) and multi-tablet regimen (MTR) antiretroviral therapy (ART) in newly treated HIV-1 patients. Methods Retrospective analysis of longitudinal pharmacy claims among US patients initiating ART between 1/1/2016 and 5/31/2016 (index date was defined by first ART claim for STRs, and fill date for the last therapy in the regimen for MTRs). Adherence was assessed over a 12-month period and reported as the proportion of adherent or non-adherent (defined as ≤5-day and > a 5-day gap between successive fills, respectively) patients. Sensitivity analysis using ≤7-day and ≤14-day gap thresholds to define adherence was performed. Persistence was assessed as the number of days on therapy from index until treatment discontinuation (>90 day gap in therapy). Kaplan-Meier curves and Cox Proportional Hazard models were generated to evaluate discontinuation rates. Assessments were performed on STRs vs MTRs overall and by regimen. Results Patients initiating ART (STR: n=10,623; MTR: n=2504) had a mean age of 42.8 years; 76.0% were male. STR patients were >2 times more likely to be adherent over 12 months than MTR patients (24.9% vs 11.7%, respectively). Patients using EVG/COBI/FTC/TAF had greater adherence than those using other STRs. Among MTRs, patients were more adherent with FTC/TDF+DTG (15.1%) than other MTRs. Persistence was also greater with STRs, with MTR patients being 61% more likely to discontinue therapy. Persistence was best for FTC/TAF-based regimens. Predictors of treatment discontinuation included younger age, female gender, and Medicare or Medicaid insurance type. Conclusion Patients receiving STRs were significantly less likely to discontinue therapy and were more adherent with their regimens, providing further evidence of greater adherence and persistence with STRs versus MTRs. However, there was a large proportion of patients who interrupted or discontinued treatment. Further research examining treatment patterns beyond first line is warranted.

Limited real-world data exist regarding patient carrying compliance and confidence in using different types of epinephrine autoinjectors (EAIs).To perform a Real-world Assessment of Patients' Carrying Time and Confidence with Epinephrine Autoinjector Devices (RACE survey).This was a noninterventional survey of patients (≥7 years) who filled 1 or more prescription for Auvi-Q or EpiPen between January 2013 and January 2014. Outcomes included proportion of patients carrying their EAI all the time in the last 7 days (primary), EAI use confidence (secondary), and EAI training experience (secondary). Multivariate regression analyses controlled for significant differences in demographic and clinical characteristics between EAI groups.The survey included 2,000 participants (Auvi-Q, N = 1,000 [children, n = 597; adults, n = 403]; EpiPen, N = 1,000 [children, n = 105; adults, n = 895]). After adjusting for confounding factors, we found that Auvi-Q respondents were more likely to carry their device all the time in the last 7 days versus EpiPen respondents (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.91; 95% CI, 1.49-2.45; P.001); similar trends were observed in adults and children (P.001 both). Adults in the Auvi-Q group were more likely to feel "very confident" about correctly using their EAI (aOR, 2.02) and someone else correctly using their EAI (aOR, 2.25) versus the EpiPen group (P.001 both). Compared with EpiPen respondents, Auvi-Q respondents were more likely to feel that EAI instructions were "very clear" (aOR, 3.10) and more likely to find the prescription pack trainer helpful (aOR, 2.29; P.01 both).This study suggests significant real-world differences in patients' carrying time, confidence in use, and training experiences between Auvi-Q and EpiPen users.

This retrospective study estimated healthcare resource use (HRU), symptoms and toxicities (SxTox), and costs in relapsed/refractory (R/R) patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), stratified by hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) status. Claims data were used to identify adult patients with AML diagnoses from 1 January 2008 to 31 March 2016 in the USA. Patients were considered R/R if they had an AML relapse ICD-9 code (205.02) or a line of therapy consistent with R/R disease. The final R/R sample (N = 707) included 476 patients with and 231 patients without HSCT. The mean total episode cost (from relapse date to death or end of study period) for all patients was $439,104 (with HSCT $524,595 and without HSCT $263,310). Inpatient visits accounted for the greatest cost component (mean $308,978) followed by intensive care unit stays (mean $221,537), non-clinician (e.g., lab tests) visits (mean $30,909), and outpatient pharmacy utilization (mean $24,640). Patients with HSCT appeared to have longer episodes of care compared with patients without HSCT (16.8 vs 11.1 months), perhaps reflecting longer survival for HSCT patients. Mean number of visits within each category and their associated costs appeared to be higher in patients with HSCT compared with patients without HSCT. Patients with HSCT appeared to experience more SxTox compared with patients without HSCT across all categories. Results of the current study suggest that there is a substantial HRU and cost burden on R/R AML patients in the USA receiving active treatments. More effective therapies with improved tolerability would meet this tremendous unmet need in the R/R AML population. Funding: Astellas Pharma, Inc.

Background: In insulin-treated patients (pts) with T2DM, untreated severe hypoglycemia (SH) can be life-threatening. We used a healthcare claims database (db) to identify less established SH risk factors in this group. Methods: Adults with T2DM and ≥1 insulin claim (2012-2018) were identified in IQVIA’s PharMetrics® Plus db. Cases with SH were matched to controls using incidence density sampling and exact matched on well‑known factors (age, sulfonylurea pharmacy claim, prior SH, renal disease). A conditional logistic regression model tested associations between potential risk factors and SH occurrence. Results: In 3153 cases/3153 matched controls, mean ± SD age was 56.2 ± 10.9 years. Identified risk factors included pregnancy (odds ratio for exposure ≤1 mo before SH = 3.2, 95% CI 1.7-6.0) and pharmacy claims: short-acting insulin (2.2, 1.6-3.1), rapid-acting insulin (1.5, 1.3-1.7), anxiolytics (1.5, 1.2-1.9), antipsychotics (1.6, 1.1-2.2), corticosteroids (1.4, 1.1-1.7), opioids (1.4, 1.2-1.6), β-adrenergic agonists (1.4, 1.1-1.9). Higher comorbidity score, alcohol abuse and certain comorbidities also raised SH risk (Fig 1). Conclusion: Acknowledging limitations of claims db analyses, our study identified certain comorbidities and medications (primarily within 1 mo of SH) as additional risk factors for SH. Such data may help facilitate interventions for pts with T2DM at increased SH risk. Disclosure J. Settles: Employee; Self; Eli Lilly and Company. C. J. Child: Employee; Self; Eli Lilly and Company, Stock/Shareholder; Self; Eli Lilly and Company. M. Gorritz: Consultant; Self; Amgen Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc., Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. J. K. Multani: Other Relationship; Self; Eli Lilly and Company. C. Mcguiness: Research Support; Self; AbbVie Inc., Allergan plc, Amgen Inc., Astellas Pharma Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline plc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., Sanofi, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. R. Wade: Research Support; Self; Eli Lilly and Company. H. Kan: Employee; Self; Eli Lilly and Company, Stock/Shareholder; Self; Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, GlaxoSmithKline plc. Funding Eli Lilly and Company

Background Low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) is a risk factor for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). There are limited real‐world data on LDL‐C lowering with evolocumab in United States clinical practice. Hypothesis We assessed LDL‐C lowering during 1 year of evolocumab therapy. Methods This retrospective cohort study used linked laboratory (Prognos) and medical claims (IQVIA Dx/LRx and PharMetrics Plus®) data. Patients with a first fill for evolocumab between 7/1/2015 and 10/31/2019 (index event) and LDL‐C ≥ 70 mg/dL were included (overall cohort; N = 5897). Additionally, a patient subgroup with a recent myocardial infarction (MI) within 12 months (median 130 days) before the first evolocumab fill was identified (N = 152). Reduction from baseline LDL‐C was calculated based on the lowest LDL‐C value recorded during a 12‐month follow‐up period. Results The mean (SD) age was 65 (10) years; 61.9% of patients had ASCVD diagnoses and 70.7% of patients were in receipt of lipid‐lowering therapy. Following evolocumab treatment, changes in LDL‐C from baseline were −60% in the overall cohort (median [interquartile range (IQR)] 146 [115–180] mg/dL to 58 [36–84] mg/dL) and −65% in the recent MI subgroup (median [IQR] 137 [109–165] mg/dL to 48 [30–78] mg/dL). In the overall cohort and recent MI subgroup, 62.1% and 69.7% of patients achieved LDL‐C

This study describes the current treatment landscape in adult atopic dermatitis (AD), overall and by disease severity. Adult patients with an AD diagnosis in dermatology-specific electronic medical records during 2018 were identified and linked to an administrative claims database. Disease severity was determined using Physician’s Global Assessment (PGA). Written and dispensed prescriptions, within and between class cycling for AD therapies occurring in 2018 were assessed. In total, 4,364 patients were included. Among patients with available PGA, 43.2% had clear-to-mild, 37.3% had moderate, and 19.6% had severe disease. Most patients (71.0%) had written prescriptions for topical therapies only in 2018. Among the patients with claims for topical therapies alone, 80.7% used topical corticosteroids only. Within and between class cycling was observed in 33.7% and 12.8% of topical users, respectively. In patients with systemic therapy (40.6%), nearly 84.9% also used topical therapy, 25.8% cycled within systemic drug classes, and 24.8% cycled between systemic drug classes. Overall, cycling was more prevalent in patients with more severe disease. Cycling within and between both topical and systemic drug classes was more common in patients with more severe disease, indicating difficulty of managing these patients and highlighting a need for more treatment options.

Background Treatment for atopic dermatitis (AD) is complex, particularly in patients with inadequate response to topical therapies. Currently, there is little clinical guidance for the treatment of these patients. Methods A real-world retrospective study utilizing electronic medical records (EMR) and administrative claims data selected patients with AD between January 01 2016 and June 30 2018. Patients had a written prescription for a topical therapy (first observed script = index date) and no prior systemic treatment. Disease severity at index, follow-up treatment response and prescriptions patterns were assessed. A subset of patients linked to claims was evaluated for treatment patterns. Results We identified 137,214 adult topical-treated AD patients with no prior systemic therapy. Among the 16,035 patients with available Physician Global Assessment (PGA) at index, 8169 (50.9%) had the moderate-to-severe disease. Among these patients, 60% had an inadequate response to topical therapy. Of 4475 patients linked to claims, 13.0% had claims for systemic therapy during follow-up, most initiated systemic steroids (95.2%), and oral immunosuppressants and biologics were initiated in 3.3% and 3.8%, respectively. Conclusion In this real-world study, inadequate response to topical therapy among moderate-to-severe AD patients was high and initiation of systemic treatment was low which suggests a need for additional AD-indicated systemic treatment options in this patient population.

In clinical trials, disability progression in multiple sclerosis (MS) is measured by the Kurtzke expanded disability status scale (EDSS), which is not captured in routine clinical care in the U.S. This study developed a claims-based disability score (CDS) based on the EDSS for assigning MS disability level in a U.S. claims database.This retrospective cohort study of patients with MS in the U.S., utilized adjudicated health plan claims data linked to electronic medical records (EMRs) data. Patients were identified between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2016 and indexed on the first date of MS diagnosis. The CDS was developed to assign disability level at baseline using claims and ambulatory EMR records observed over the 1-year baseline period. All-cause healthcare costs were assessed by baseline disability level to validate the CDS.In total, 45,687 patients were identified in claims (full sample) and 1,599 linked to EMR (core sample). Over half of patients in both samples were classified with mild disability at baseline. Adjusted healthcare costs in patients with moderate and severe disability were 15% (The CDS is the first claims-based measure of MS disability utilizing data from EMR. This novel measure advances the opportunity to examine outcomes by disability accumulation in the absence of standard markers of disease progression. Although formal validation of the CDS was not possible due to lack of available EDSS in the EMR, the economic burden results align with prior publications and show that healthcare costs increase with increasing disability. Future validation studies of the CDS are warranted.

Introduction The aim of this work is to assess the feasibility of probabilistically linking randomized controlled trial (RCT) data to claims data in a real-world setting to inform future rheumatoid arthritis (RA) research. Methods This retrospective cohort study utilized IQVIA’s Patient Centric Medical Claims (Dx) Database, IQVIA’s Longitudinal Prescription Claims (LRx) Database, and Lilly’s baricitinib RCT data from a sample of patients that consented to the linkage of their de-identified insurance claims to their de-identified RCT data. Patients were initially matched on age, gender, and three-digit ZIP code of the provider and further matched according to a point scoring system using additional clinical variables. Results A total of 245 patients from 49 US clinical trial sites were eligible for the study and 78 (31.8%) of these patients consented to participate. Of the 78 consented patients, 69 (88%) were successfully matched on age, gender, and three-digit ZIP code of the provider. Of the 69 patients successfully matched on age, gender, and three-digit ZIP code of the provider, 44 (63.8%) had at least one sufficient match using the point scoring system. Of these 44, 23 (52.3%) patients matched at a ratio of one RCT patient to one Dx/LRx patient, 11 (25.0%) at a ratio of 1:2, 7 (15.9%) at a ratio of 1:3 and three (6.8%) at a ratio of 1:4 or greater. To further improve match ratios, a variable hierarchy was applied to the 18 RCT patients with 2–3 matches. Overall, 38 of the 78 (48.7%) consented RCT patients were successfully matched 1:1 to claims database patients. Conclusions This probabilistic linkage methodology demonstrates the feasibility, at a moderate linkage rate, of linking patients from RCTs to real-world data, which can provide a means to assess additional information not usually collected within or following a clinical trial.

Objective We assessed national- and state-level geographic variations among patients with a history of ≥1 major atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) event in: (1) the proportion of patients with retrospectively identified 2018 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guideline very high-risk (VHR) ASCVD criteria; (2) utilization of guideline-directed lipid-lowering therapy (LLT); and (3) the proportion of patients with persistent low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) elevations despite statin and/or ezetimibe use. Methods A retrospective cohort study using the Prognos LDL-C database linked to IQVIA longitudinal medical and prescription claims databases. The study period was from January 01, 2011, to November 30, 2019 and the index period was from January 01, 2016, to November 30, 2019; the index date was defined as the most recent LDL-C test during the index period. The study included patients aged ≥18 years at index who had a measured LDL-C level during the index period and had ≥1 inpatient/outpatient claim for ASCVD during the 5-year pre-index period. Results Of patients with any ASCVD (N=4652,468), 1537,514 (33.1%) patients had ≥1 major ASCVD event. Among patients with ≥1 major ASCVD event, the VHR ASCVD criteria were retrospectively identified in 1139,018 (74.1%) patients; Hawaii had the highest (81.7%) and Colorado the lowest (65.0%) proportion of these patients. Nationally, 48.8% and 50.2% of patients with ≥1 major ASCVD event and retrospectively identified VHR ASCVD criteria, respectively, had current LLT use; Massachusetts and Colorado had the highest and lowest proportions, respectively. After standardizing for age and sex, 57.3% and 58.8% of patients with ≥1 major ASCVD event and retrospectively identified VHR ASCVD criteria, respectively, had LDL-C ≥70 mg/dL (≥1.8 mmol/L) despite statin and/or ezetimibe use, with substantial state-level variations observed. Conclusions The study highlights high rates of elevated LDL-C and pervasive underuse of LLT in health-insured patients with a history of major ASCVD events treated in the United States, with state-level geographic variations observed.

Objective There are limited real-world data comparing cumulative incremental healthcare costs in people living with HIV (PLWH) and those without HIV. This study evaluated all-cause cumulative and incremental costs in PLWH in the US using a matched-cohort design. Materials and Methods This retrospective, multi-year, cross-sectional analysis evaluated annual costs from 2013 to 2017, and projected cumulative costs of HIV from age 25 to 69 years. IQVIA’s commercial adjudicated claims database was used to identify patients with HIV and match them with patients without HIV (controls). Cumulative all-cause costs were derived from the health plan-allowed costs incurred from ages 25–69 years. Undiscounted, discounted, and incremental costs between PLWH and non-HIV populations were reported in 2017 US dollars (US$), and annual all-cause costs were estimated for each year by 10-year age bands. Results A total of 25,261, 24,134, 31,654, 35,374, and 29,039 PLWH and 75,783, 72,402, 94,962, 106,122, and 87,117 matched controls were identified in the years 2013 through 2017, respectively. The mean undiscounted cumulative costs were $1,840,554 for PLWH and $285,065 for controls, an incremental cost difference of $1,555,489, while the mean discounted cumulative cost for PLWH was $983,897 compared with $133,340 for controls, an incremental cost difference of $850,557. Mean all-cause annual and cumulative costs were up to seven times higher for PLWH compared with controls. There was a trend for costs to increase each year with increasing age. Limitations and Conclusions While cumulative all-cause cost estimates only approximate total cost burden for any given patient, and the results of this study may not be generalizable to all population subgroups, this is one of the first US studies to examine annual and cumulative costs in a real-world cohort of commercially insured PLWH compared with a population without HIV. In this large, representative sample of commercially insured US adults with HIV, PLWH had substantially higher all-cause cumulative costs than individuals without HIV. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s41669-020-00209-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Exenatide BID Observational Study (ExOS) was designed to evaluate the clinical effectiveness of exenatide BID use in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D) in a real-world clinical practice setting in the United States.Patients were enrolled from 74 practice sites from 9/2007 through 1/2009 and followed for 12 months. The primary effectiveness endpoint was achieving or maintaining hemoglobin A1C of ≤7.0%, or an absolute drop of 0.5% from baseline. Secondary measures included absolute and percentage change from baseline for a variety of clinical measures (lipid markers, weight, BMI, etc.), and quality of life (QOL) was assessed using the Impact of Weight on Quality of Life (IWQOL)-Lite.A total of 452 patients were included in the primary study population. At baseline, patients (60% female) had mean (SD) age of 55 (11), T2D duration of 9 (8) years, HbA1c of 8.0 (1.7) %, and body mass index (BMI) of 38.2 (7.4) kg/m(2). Family history of T2D was reported in 73.9% of patients. Hypertension was reported in 61.5% of patients, and 47.1% had hyperlipidemia. The HbA1c goal was achieved in 76.3% of the 118 patients with A1C measurements available at 12 months (P 0.0001). Patients with available clinical measurements achieved significant improvements in HbA1c, weight, BMI, and QOL measurements at 12 months. A mean improvement of 4.56 was seen in the total IWQOL-Lite score at 12 months (P = 0.001). The single-arm design of this study is a limitation; however, the overall objective of the study was to observe patients on exenatide BID therapy over time, comparing their status at endpoint to baseline, rather than to make comparisons among different drug therapies.The Exenatide BID Observational Study supports the clinical effectiveness of exenatide BID observed in previous clinical trials and retrospective database studies.

Dionne M Hines,1 Pallavi Rane,2 Jeetvan Patel,2 David J Harrison,2 Rolin L Wade1 1Health Economics and Outcomes Research, IQVIA, Plymouth Meeting, PA, USA; 2Global Health Economics, Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, USA Purpose: To describe patient characteristics and treatment patterns among early initiators of proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type nine inhibitors (PCSK9is) who initiated treatment within the first 6 months of market availability.Patients and methods: This retrospective cohort study used IQVIA’s longitudinal open-source point-of-sale pharmacy claims database (LRx) and PharMetrics Plus (P+) health plan claims database to identify patients initiating a PCSK9i between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2016. The index date was defined as the date of the first PCSK9i prescription (index claim) during the enrollment window; patients were followed for ≥6 months postindex. Patient characteristics including use of baseline lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) and measures such as persistence and adherence to PCSK9i therapy were evaluated with respect to health plan type (commercial vs Medicare).Results: Overall, patients initiating PCSK9i (n=13,151) had a mean age of 66 years, and 51% were male. Approximately 67.4% of patients used some form of LLT (statin and/or ezetimibe) in the 24 months prior to initiating PCSK9i therapy. The proportion of patients covered by a commercial health plan (51.2%) was similar to that covered by Medicare (48.8%). Persistence on PCSK9i was marginally longer for patients with commercial insurance than Medicare (mean days on therapy 202.2 vs 198.5). Overall, 42.6% of patients discontinued their PCSK9i during the 180 days of follow-up.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that a large proportion of patients discontinue PCSK9i therapy at 30 and 90 days, which are the time frames for which many health plans require recertification to continue access to PCSK9i. Future studies looking at treatment patterns among patients who initiate PCSK9i therapy after the first 180 days once health plan formularies and utilization management criteria were finalized are needed to understand more comprehensively real-world PCSK9i usage patterns. Keywords: LDL-C, statin, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, ASCVD, heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia, HeFH, lipid lowering

Health plans use formulary restrictions (e.g., prior authorization, step therapy, tier change, nonformulary status) in an effort to control cost and promote quality, safety, and appropriate prescription utilization. Some Medicare payers perceive that the inclusion of certain agents, such as branded oxycodone HCl extended-release tablets (OERs), on their formularies is associated with attracting high-cost members to the plan.To evaluate disenrollment rates, patient migration, and subsequent health care costs among OER users who disenrolled from a national Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug plan (study-MAPD) in the plan year following OER nonformulary restriction.A retrospective, longitudinal cohort study using IMS pharmacy and medical claims data between July 1, 2011, and December 31, 2014, was conducted. In the study-MAPD, adults aged ≥ 18 years who were chronic OER users with ≥ 2 OER claims 6 months before the nonformulary restriction date on January 1, 2013 (index date) and with continuous activity in pharmacy and medical claims for 6 months pre- and post-index were included in the study. Comparison years of 2012 and 2014 prerestriction/postrestriction were selected. All groups were followed for 6 months postindex. Year-to-year disenrollment rates of OER patients and the overall plan, as well as patient characteristics and costs of those who disenrolled from and those who remained with the plan, were measured. Costs were compared using a difference-in-differences approach.This study identified 2,935 eligible OER users from the study-MAPD population after imposing nonformulary restrictions on OERs on January 1, 2013. Mean age was 62.1 years, and 59.8% were female. The mean Charlson Comorbidity Index score was 1.83 for those 1,001 patients with medical claims data. For comparison years 2012 (prerestriction) and 2014 (postrestriction), 2,248 and 2,222 OER patients were identified, respectively. Patient characteristics were similar across patient cohorts in all 3 study years. Disenrollment rates for OER users (12.9%, 5.5%, and 14.3% for years 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively) were lower or similar to those of the overall plan (18.3%, 7.6%, and 14.1%, respectively, for the same 3 years). Approximately 40% of OER users who disenrolled from the study-MAPD migrated to plans also imposing a nonformulary restriction on OERs, while about 25% moved to plans with less restrictive OER coverage. The majority (59.9%) of patients continued OER use irrespective of their disenrollment from the study-MAPD in 2013. Although a nonsignificant decrease ($117; P = 0.340) in per patient per month (PPPM) cost was observed among OER patients postrestriction (from 2012 to 2013), the difference-in-difference analysis indicated a net postrestriction increase of $124 (P = 0.461) in PPPM for OER patients.This study found little evidence to support any consistent directional effect on patient enrollment behavior as a result of an OER non-formulary restriction. Implementation of an OER nonformulary restriction did not lead to higher OER patient disenrollment or lower patient costs in the study-MAPD.Funding for this study was provided by Purdue Pharma. De, Chen, and Wade are employees of QuintilesIMS, a for-profit company that was contracted by Purdue Pharma to undertake this research. Sweet was a paid consultant for Purdue Pharma at the time of this study. Study concept and design were contributed by Chen, Wade, and De. Chen, De, and Wade collected the data, which were interpreted by all the authors. The manuscript was written by Chen and De, along with Sweet and Wade, and revised by all the authors.

Background Discontinuation of first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) may lead to poor outcomes for persons living with HIV (PLWH). While single-tablet regimens (STRs) have been associated with greater persistence compared to multi-tablet regimens (MTRs), few real-world studies have assessed persistence with current guideline-recommended ART regimens. The study aims to assess persistence among treatment-naïve PLWH initiating guideline-recommended ART regimens Methods Longitudinal pharmacy claims were extracted from IQVIA’s US LRx database for PLWH initiating ART between Jan 1, 2016 - Jul 31, 2019 (index period), with the observational period up to Jan 31, 2020. Index date was defined as the date of the first ART claim for STRs, or the date of the last filled drug of 1st set of claims for MTRs. Persistence was measured as the number of days until treatment discontinuation (≥ 90-day gap in therapy) and presented via Kaplan-Meier curves. Risk of discontinuation was assessed via Cox proportional hazards models, with BIC/FTC/TAF used as the reference ART regimen. Results Overall, 90,949 PLWH initiated STRs and 20,737 initiated MTRs. Average (SD) age was 43 (14) years, 75% were male, and 75% had commercial insurance. At 6 months of follow-up, 71% of PLWH initiating STRs and 56% initiating MTRs remained on their ART regimen. The proportion remaining on their index regimen at 6 months of follow-up was 79% for BIC/FTC/TAF, 73% for EVG/COBI/FTC/TAF, 71% for DTG/ABC/3TC, 69% for DTG + FTC/TAF, 67% for EFV/FTC/TDF, 62% for EVG/COBI/FTC/TDF, and 38% for DTG + FTC/TDF. Risk of discontinuation was higher for MTRs compared to STRs (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.63, 95% CI: 1.61 - 1.66). Compared to the referent BIC/FTC/TAF, risk of discontinuation was higher for EVG/COBI/FTC/TAF (HR: 1.54, 95% CI: 1.48 - 1.60), DTG/ABC/3TC (HR: 1.58, 95% CI: 1.52, 1.65), DTG + FTC/TAF (HR: 1.83, 95% CI: 1.74 - 1.93), EFV/FTC/TDF (HR: 2.31, 95% CI: 2.21 - 2.41), EVG/COBI/FTC/TDF (HR: 2.58, 95% CI: 2.47 - 2.70), and DTG + FTC/TDF (HR: 6.20, 95% CI: 5.83 - 6.59). Table 1. Persistence with ART by regimen for STR and MTR Figure 1. Forest Plot of Hazard Ratios for Treatment Discontinuation Conclusion Among US adult PLWH, STRs were associated with longer persistence on first-line therapy compared to MTRs. Among STRs, persistence was highest for BIC/FTC/TAF. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures

Seth J Baum,1,2 Rolin L Wade,3 Pin Xiang,4 Jorge Arellano,4 Cesar Cerezo Olmos,5 Sasikiran Nunna,6 Chi-Chang Chen,6 Cathryn M Carter,7 Nihar R Desai8 1Department of Integrated Medical Sciences, Charles E Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA; 2Preventive Cardiology Inc, Boca Raton, FL, USA; 3Medical and Scientific Services, IQVIA, Plymouth Meeting, PA, USA; 4Global Health Economics, Amgen Inc, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA; 5US Medical, Amgen Inc, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA; 6Real-World Evidence Solutions, IQVIA, Plymouth Meeting, PA, USA; 7Global Publications, Amgen Inc, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA; 8Section of Cardiovascular Medicine, Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USACorrespondence: Rolin L WadeIQVIA, One IMS Drive, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462, USATel +1 215 434 812 2958Email Rolin.Wade@iqvia.comPurpose: Our objective was to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of real-world patients in the US with elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) whose lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) ─ both proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor and non-PCSK9 inhibitor ─ was actively modified.Methods: This retrospective cohort study used linked laboratory (Prognos), pharmacy (IMS Formulary Impact Analyzer), and medical claims (IQVIA Dx/LRx or PharMetrics Plus) data. PCSK9 inhibitor–prescribed patients with LDL-C ≥70 mg/dL (multiply by 0.02586 for mmol/L) at the time of prescription were matched by LDL-C test date to patients whose non-PCSK9 inhibitor therapy was modified by intensifying statin therapy, switching statins without intensification, or augmenting with ezetimibe (N=12,345 in each cohort). Baseline demographics, use of LLT, LDL-C values, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) diagnoses and cardiovascular comorbidities, and occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) were assessed during the 2-year pre-index period.Results: Mean age was 66.2 years in the PCSK9 inhibitor cohort and 64.1 years in the cohort whose LLT regimen was otherwise modified. Respectively, mean baseline LDL-C values were 150 and 121 mg/dL; 60.3% and 39.0% of patients had ASCVD diagnoses, and 9.6% and 5.1% had experienced a recent MACE. Prevalence of ASCVD diagnoses in the PCSK9 inhibitor and modified non-PCSK9 inhibitor cohorts, respectively, was 15.5% vs 9.1% for acute coronary syndrome, 20.7% vs 8.7% for coronary revascularization, and 22.2% vs 5.1% for possible familial hypercholesterolemia. In addition, 19.8% of patients in the PCSK9 inhibitor cohort were receiving both statins and ezetimibe vs 5.0% in the modified LLT cohort.Conclusion: Physicians are prescribing PCSK9 inhibitor therapy to patients with markedly elevated LDL-C levels who also have comorbid risk factors for adverse cardiovascular events. These results may be of interest to payers and policymakers involved in devising access strategies for PCSK9 inhibitors.Keywords: cardiovascular risk, lipid-lowering therapy, low-density lipoprotein, PCSK9 inhibitor, real-world treatment patterns

Objective To assess adherence and persistence with first-line single-tablet regimen (STR) and multi-tablet regimen (MTR) antiretroviral therapy (ART) in newly treated HIV-1 patients. Methods Retrospective analysis of longitudinal pharmacy claims among US patients initiating ART between 1/1/2016 and 5/31/2016 (index date was defined by first ART claim for STRs, and fill date for the last therapy in the regimen for MTRs). Adherence was assessed over a 12-month period and reported as the proportion of adherent or non-adherent (defined as ≤5-day and > a 5-day gap between successive fills, respectively) patients. Sensitivity analysis using ≤7-day and ≤14-day gap thresholds to define adherence was performed. Persistence was assessed as the number of days on therapy from index until treatment discontinuation (>90 day gap in therapy). Kaplan–Meier curves and Cox Proportional Hazard models were generated to evaluate discontinuation rates. Assessments were performed on STRs vs MTRs overall and by regimen. Results Patients initiating ART (STR: n=10,623; MTR: n=2504) had a mean age of 42.8 years; 76.0% were male. STR patients were >2 times more likely to be adherent over 12 months than MTR patients (24.9% vs 11.7%, respectively). Patients using EVG/COBI/FTC/TAF had greater adherence than those using other STRs. Among MTRs, patients were more adherent with FTC/TDF+DTG (15.1%) than other MTRs. Persistence was also greater with STRs, with MTR patients being 61% more likely to discontinue therapy. Persistence was best for FTC/TAF-based regimens. Predictors of treatment discontinuation included younger age, female gender, and Medicare or Medicaid insurance type. Conclusion Patients receiving STRs were significantly less likely to discontinue therapy and were more adherent with their regimens, providing further evidence of greater adherence and persistence with STRs versus MTRs. However, there was a large proportion of patients who interrupted or discontinued treatment. Further research examining treatment patterns beyond first line is warranted.

The aim was to evaluate the impact of a multifaceted set of medication management interventions offered by a community pharmacy on adherence, health care utilization, and costs within a commercial population. Patients initiating therapy within 16 drug classes from February 7, 2013, to October 6, 2013, were offered various adherence interventions by Walgreens pharmacy. Patients were linked deterministically to IMS medical and prescription databases for 6-month pre- and post-index data analysis. Walgreens patients (intervention) were matched to patients using other pharmacies (control) on drug class, index date, baseline demographics, clinical factors, utilization, and costs. Outcomes were evaluated at the intent-to-treat level using post-index differences and generalized estimating equations (GEE) regression model. Paired t tests (continuous variables) and McNemar's test (dichotomous variables) were used to determine the significance of estimated model coefficients at α = 0.05. The groups (n = 72,410 each) had similar age (47.1 vs. 45.7 years), sex (41.2% vs. 40.2% male), and disease burden (0.52 vs. 0.40 mean Charlson comorbidity index). In the 6-month post-index period, the intervention group had 3.0% greater medication adherence, 1.8% fewer hospital admissions, 2.7% fewer emergency room (ER) visits, and 0.53 fewer mean outpatient visits compared to the control group (all P

The Orphan Drug Act of 1983 established incentives for the development of drugs that treat rare, or orphan, diseases. We used the IMS Health MIDAS database of audited biopharmaceutical sales to measure US annual spending on orphan drugs in the period 2007-13, and we estimated spending on the drugs for the period 2014-18. We identified 356 brand-name orphan drugs that were approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the period 1983-2013. While we included orphan drugs with both orphan and other indications, we adjusted spending to include only spending for orphan indications. In 2014 dollars, expenditures on orphan drugs totaled $15 billion in 2007 and $30 billion in 2013-representing 4.8 percent and 8.9 percent of total pharmaceutical expenditures, respectively. Our future trend analysis for the period 2014-18 suggests a slowing in the growth of orphan drug expenditures. The overall impact of orphan drugs on payers' drug budgets is relatively small, and spending on orphan drugs as a percentage of total pharmaceutical expenditures has remained fairly stable. Concerns that growth in orphan drug expenditures may lead to unsustainable drug expenditures do not appear to be justified.

Physician prescription patterns for lipid lowering therapy, particularly high-intensity statins (HIS), and risk of cardiovascular events (CVE) is not well documented in the real-world clinical setting among patients hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction (AMI). We aim to examine the

We describe patient characteristics, lipid lowering therapy (LLT) use, and risks of subsequent cardiovascular events (CVE) in the 12-months following a coronary revascularization (CR). We identified patients undergoing CR between 01/2014-05/2019 (index period) in the linked IQVIA PharMetrics+/

Lipid lowering therapy, particularly use of high-intensity statins (HIS) is vital for secondary prevention of cardiovascular events, after acute myocardial infarction (AMI). However, physician prescription patterns for HIS are not well documented in the real-world setting in post-AMI patients. We

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitor (PCSK9i) antibodies significantly reduce low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in patients uncontrolled with statins and/or ezetimibe. Here we characterize the baseline cardiovascular risk profile in a subset of patients with recent

Adherence to therapy for pulmonary arterial hypertension is essential to optimize patient outcomes, but data on real-world adherence to different pulmonary arterial hypertension drug classes are limited. This retrospective database analysis evaluated relationships between adherence, hospitalization, and healthcare costs in pulmonary arterial hypertension patients treated with endothelin receptor antagonists or phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitors. From the IQVIA Adjudicated Health Plan Database, patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension were identified based on diagnostic codes and prescriptions for endothelin receptor antagonists (ambrisentan, bosentan, macitentan) or phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitors (sildenafil, tadalafil) approved for pulmonary arterial hypertension. Patients were assigned to the class of their most recently initiated (index) pulmonary arterial hypertension therapy between 1 January 2009 and 30 June 2015. Medication adherence was measured by proportion of days covered; patients with proportion of days covered ≥80% were considered adherent. The proportion of adherent patients was higher for endothelin receptor antagonists (571/755; 75.6%) than for phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitors (970/1578; 61.5%; P

Chi-Chang Chen,1 Pallavi B Rane,2 Dionne M Hines,1 Jeetvan Patel,2 David J Harrison,2 Rolin L Wade1 1IQVIA, Plymouth Meeting, PA, USA; 2Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, USA Background: This study evaluated the proportion of patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and probable heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HeFH) achieving ≥50% reduction in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) or reaching the LDL-C ≤70 mg/dL threshold, after initiating or modifying statin, and/or ezetimibe therapy. Materials and methods: Adult ASCVD patients with baseline LDL-C >70 mg/dL (index) and a subset of patients with probable HeFH (proxied by LDL-C ≥190 mg/dL) were identified between January 1, 2012, and August 31, 2014, from the IQVIA electronic medical record database. Patients were followed for 12 months pre-index to examine baseline lipid-lowering therapy (LLT) use, and 12 months post index to evaluate treatment modifications and post-treatment LDL-C levels, stratified by type of treatment received and LDL-C levels at baseline. Results: Of the sample of ASCVD patients who initiated treatment post-index (n=111,147), only 7.6% patients achieved a ≥50% reduction from baseline LDL-C and 19.1% of patients reached the LDL-C ≤70 mg/dL threshold. Among treated ASCVD patients who modified therapy post-index (n=75,523), 5.6% achieved a ≥50% reduction in LDL-C, and proportion of patients achieving LDL-C ≤70 mg/dL ranged from 6.9% to 26.7%, depending on the baseline LDL-C levels. Approximately 50% of the untreated probable HeFH patients (n=3,064) initiated LLT; however, the mean (SD) post-treatment LDL-C remained high (136.2 [47.8] mg/dL), with only 4.4% reaching LDL-C ≤70 mg/dL. Of the treated probable HeFH patients (n=1,073), 41.5% modified treatment; 22.1% achieved a ≥50% reduction in LDL-C and 1.1% reached LDL-C ≤70 mg/dL. Conclusion: This study found that most patients had suboptimal LDL-C responses after initiating or modifying standard LLT (statin and/or ezetimibe). More frequent and aggressive lipid management, including increasing statin intensity and alternative therapies, may be needed in patients with ASCVD and probable HeFH to reduce their cardiovascular risk. Keywords: hyperlipidemia, ASCVD, HeFH, LDL-C, statin, lipid-lowering therapy

Background: The high costs and negative outcomes associated with poor medication adherence are well established. This study evaluated antihypertensive adherence and persistence in patients using the Medisafe personalized medication management application (app) compared to a matched control group. Methods: Patients installing the app entering an antihypertensive medication (users) between 1/1/2014-12/31/2017 (index date) were anonymously linked to IQVIA’s longitudinal prescription claims (LRx) database and matched 1:3 to non-app users (controls) with prescription claims for antihypertensive therapy in the same month as the app user; further matched on age (+/- 3 years), gender, geographic region, and categorical number of pre-index antihypertensive therapy claims (0-5, 6-11, ≥ 12). All patients had ≥ 2 prescription claims pre-index and ≥ 3 claims post-index, while pre- and post-index periods were equalized for app users and controls. Adherence was measured during the persistent period in LRx via medication possession ratio (MPR) during the pre-index and post-index periods established for both groups. Persistence was defined as no gaps in therapy >60 days. Differences in MPR change between app users and controls were tested using difference in differences (DID) models. Persistence was evaluated using Kaplan-Meyer analysis. Results: There were a total of 4,019 cases and 12,057 controls with mean (SD) pre-index periods of 14.2 (8.8) months. The mean (SD) age was 55 (12) years; 55% were male. The net increase in MPR was significantly higher in app-users compared to the controls (+0.083 vs. +0.036, p Conclusions: Patients using the Medisafe app were significantly more persistent on therapy compared to matched controls and had a higher adherence to therapy during the persistent period. Broad use of this mobile app technology could play an important role in improving clinical and economic outcomes in patients with hypertension.

To evaluate adherence to newly initiated biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) in effectively treated patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Retrospective cohort study of administrative claims data (IMS PharMetrics Plus) for services incurred from July 1, 2008, to December 31, 2014.Data from patients with RA aged 18 to 64 years with continuous enrollment for at least 30 months and initiating abatacept, adalimumab, certolizumab pegol, etanercept, golimumab, or infliximab were analyzed. Treatment effectiveness was determined using a validated algorithm. Outcomes included adherence rates (proportion of days covered ≥80%) for 1 year and 2 years, year 2 adherence among patients effectively and noneffectively treated in year 1, year 2 adherence predictors, and year 2 costs and cost predictors.Across 10,374 patients, adherence rates were 46% for year 1 and 34% for 2 years; rates were lowest for golimumab and highest for infliximab. In year 1, 3076 (29.7%) patients were considered effectively treated. Year 2 adherence was 59% in effectively treated patients, 32% in patients who failed any effectiveness criteria, and 12% in patients who failed only the adherence criterion. Intravenous bDMARDs, older age, male sex, Northeast region, commercial payer, prior DMARD use, index year 2010 or later, and lower preindex all-cause costs each predicted better adherence. Adjusted year 2 all-cause and RA-related costs were $39,425 and $22,123, respectively, for effectively treated patients and $25,313 and $9250 for noneffectively treated patients. Cost predictors included effective treatment, region, payer, and index year.Adherence to the first bDMARD was suboptimal even in effectively treated patients, suggesting opportunities to improve adherence in patients with RA initiating biologics.

Julia Zhu,1 Heather S Kirkham,1 Gretchen Ayer,2 Chi-Chang Chen,3 Rolin L Wade,3 Swapna U Karkare,4 Chester H Robson,1 Jordan S Orange5 1Walgreens, Deerfield, 2Option Care, Bannockburn, IL, 3Quintiles IMS, Plymouth Meeting, PA, 4Quintiles IMS, Deerfield, IL, 5Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, TX, USA Objective: To compare clinical and economic outcomes of patients who received intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) therapies and were managed by a clinical management program vs the outcomes of matched controls using administrative claim data.Methods: This retrospective cohort study used the PharMetrics Plus™ claim database between September 1, 2011 and June 30, 2014. Patients in the intervention group were from a “high-touch” IVIG clinical management program administered by a home infusion specialty pharmacy. A greedy propensity score matching algorithm was used to identify a control group from non-program patients. Generalized estimating equation models were employed to evaluate differences between cohorts who were followed for 1 year. Results: Clinical outcomes were measured as infections and infusion-related adverse events. The proportion of patients who had serious bacterial infections was significantly lower (4.13% vs 7.75%, P=0.049) in the intervention group (n=242) compared to the control group (n=968). Other clinical outcomes assessed were not different between cohorts (P>0.050). The economic outcomes were measured as healthcare costs. The annual adjusted mean total health care costs of patients in the program were $26,522 lower compared to matched controls, representing a 20% lower cost ($109,476 vs $135,998, P=0.002). A major contribution to this difference ($17,269) was IVIG-related total outpatient cost (intervention vs control groups: $64,080 vs $81,349, P=0.001).Conclusion: The patients in this high-touch IVIG clinical management program appeared to have comparable infections or adverse event rates and significantly lower total health costs compared to their matched controls. Keywords: immunoglobulin, intravenous, management program, clinical outcomes, economic outcomes

Although hypogonadism (HG) is interrelated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), there is little information about men's experiences with HG, T2DM, and testosterone replacement therapy (TRT). We examined symptoms and TRT use among men with HG, with and without T2DM, who received care within a single United States health plan.Men aged ≥ 18 years with HG, with and without T2DM, were identified from the 2008 to 2010 Reliant Medical Group electronic medical record database. Surveys responses compared by T2DM status using chi-square or Wilcoxon rank sum tests.A total of 93 men were included (19 with HG and T2DM, 74 with HG only). Men with both HG and T2DM were more frequently treated for their HG by an endocrinologist (52.6%), compared with men with HG only (28.4%, p = 0.058). Erectile dysfunction (ED) was the primary reason for seeking care among all surveyed men, although men with HG and T2DM reported experiencing ED more often (94.7%) than men with HG only (46.0%, p0.0001). Additional reasons for seeking care were similar between cohorts and included loss of energy and decreased sex drive. Most men (88.2%) reported using TRT, primarily as injection or gel formulations. Discontinuation of TRT was reported slightly more frequently by men with HG and T2DM (68.4%), compared with men with HG only (55.4%, p0.05).This study provides information about symptoms and TRT utilisation among HG men with and without T2DM. Men with HG only were less likely than those with both HG and T2DM to report that they were currently experiencing key symptoms compared with when they were first diagnosed, regardless of TRT utilisation, and were less likely to report ED as a current symptom.

Nonadherence to statin medications is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and poses a challenge to lipid management in patients who are at risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Numerous studies have examined statin adherence based on administrative claims data; however, these data may underestimate statin use in patients who participate in generic drug discount programs or who have alternative coverage.To estimate the proportion of patients with missing statin claims in a claims database and determine how missing claims affect commonly used utilization metrics.This retrospective cohort study used pharmacy data from the PharMetrics Plus (P+) claims dataset linked to the IMS longitudinal pharmacy point-of-sale prescription database (LRx) from January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2014. Eligible patients were represented in the P+ and LRx datasets, had ≥1 claim for a statin (index claim) in either database, and had ≥ 24 months of continuous enrollment in P+. Patients were linked between P+ and LRx using a deterministic method. Duplicate claims between LRx and P+ were removed to produce a new dataset comprised of P+ claims augmented with LRx claims. Statin use was then compared between P+ and the augmented P+ dataset. Utilization metrics that were evaluated included percentage of patients with ≥ 1 missing statin claim over 12 months in P+; the number of patients misclassified as new users in P+; the number of patients misclassified as nonstatin users in P+; the change in 12-month medication possession ratio (MPR) and proportion of days covered (PDC) in P+; the comparison between P+ and LRx of classifications of statin treatment patterns (statin intensity and patients with treatment modifications); and the payment status for missing statin claims.Data from 965,785 patients with statin claims in P+ were analyzed (mean age 56.6 years; 57% male). In P+, 20.1% had ≥ 1 missing statin claim post-index; 13.7% were misclassified as nonstatin users; and 14.9% were misclassified as new statin users. MPR was higher in the augmented P+ dataset versus the P+ dataset alone for all patients (79.4% vs. 76.7%, P0.001) and new users (61.4% vs. 58.7%, P0.001). Similarly, mean PDC was higher in the P+ dataset augmented with LRx versus the P+ dataset alone for all patients (76.0% vs. 74.0%, P0.001) and new users (58.5% vs. 56.5%, P0.001). Most patients received moderate-intensity statins; few changes in dose, intensity, or discontinuation of statins were observed when the P+ dataset was augmented. The most common reasons for missing data were payment by an alternate third-party program (66.3%) and use of cash, coupon, or discount cards (18.7%).Augmenting commercial claims data with point-of-sale data provides a more accurate assessment of statin use than claims data alone.This study was funded by Amgen, which contributed to data interpretation and manuscript preparation. Wade, Hill, and De are employees of QuintilesIMS, which received funding from Amgen for work on this study. Patel and Harrison are employees of Amgen and own Amgen stock/stock options. Study concept and design were contributed by Wade, Hill, Patel, and Harrison. De took the lead in data collection, along with the other authors, and all authors contributed to data analysis. The manuscript was written and revised by all the authors.

Medication adherence and persistence patterns among patients with lower urinary tract symptoms/benign prostatic hyperplasia (LUTS/BPH) were analyzed. Electronic medical records of patients from the Reliant Medical Group were examined to evaluate adherence and persistence patterns. A total of 1,807 patients with LUTS/BPH were included in the study, and the number of patients at least 50 years of age was 1,748/1,807 (97%). Overall, 15.77% of patients were prescribed index prescription once, and no patients on combination alpha-blocker and 5-alpha reductase inhibitor therapies were prescribed their index prescriptions once. For all patients with LUTS/BPH, the mean number of prescriptions filled was 6.26, and the percentage of men persisting on index therapy for ≥4 years was 48%. Patients with LUTS/BPH showed a high proportion of both adherent and persistent treatment patterns, especially among patients taking combination therapy. The long follow-up time in our study provides evidence that patients are experiencing sufficient symptom relief to tolerate the challenges of remaining adherent and persistent.

Real-world data on patients treated with echinocandins for candidemia are limited. This study examined the effect of three echinocandin-based treatment regimens on resource utilization in patients with Candida infection.A retrospective cohort study of patients hospitalized between 2005 and 2010 with a blood culture positive for Candida. Length of stay (LOS) following AF initiation (post-AF LOS) and total days with AF treatment were compared in patients treated with three different echinocandin regimens: patients with echinocandin only, patients who received fluconazole prior to an echinocandin (fluconazole-echinocandin), and patients who received an echinocandin prior to fluconazole (echinocandin-fluconazole). Generalized linear models were used to adjust for confounders.A total of 647 patients met inclusion criteria. Patients treated with echinocandin only were more acutely ill, having more organ dysfunction and sepsis. Unadjusted post-AF LOS was significantly greater in the groups that received both echinocandin and fluconazole (mean, 13.1 days for echinocandin-only vs 25.5 and 21.2 days for fluconazole-echinocandin and echinocandin-fluconazole groups, respectively, p0.001). These groups also had a higher total number of days with AF orders. These differences remained after multivariate adjustment and in survivor-only analyses. Compared with echinocandin-only treatment, the average marginal effect of fluconazole-echinocandin and echinocandin-fluconazole regimens were associated with significantly longer adjusted post-AF LOS (by 7.2 days and 9.3 days, respectively, p0.001) and significantly more adjusted total AF days (by 5.3 days for fluconazole-echinocandin and 6.5 days for echinocandin-fluconazole patients, p0.001). Limitations included lack of visibility to specific reasons for therapy changes.Fluconazole before or after echinocandin was associated with significantly greater resource utilization than echinocandin use alone.

The objective of this study was to examine the frequency of hypoglycemia among patients with type 2 diabetes who had concomitantly used exenatide BID (exenatide) and long-acting insulin and continued this combination vs those who continued long-acting insulin alone.Retrospective analyses, using a large managed care database, were used to estimate the frequency of hypoglycemia (episodes/patient/6 months) for patients who concomitantly used exenatide and long-acting insulin during a 6-month follow-up period.From among 2082 patients on concomitant exenatide and long-acting insulin, those who continued this combination (n=472) had a lower frequency of hypoglycemia compared to those who remained on long-acting insulin alone (n=312) (0.03 ± 1.9 vs 0.10 ± 1.01 [episodes/patient/6 months]; p0.0001).Only hypoglycemia that required medical intervention (coded for hypoglycemia) was captured. The study could not evaluate any association between insulin dose titration and hypoglycemia or examine other outcomes such as HbA1c, weight, and body mass index, due to lack of data availability.Patients who concomitantly used exenatide BID and long-acting insulin experienced a lower rate of hypoglycemia.

Introduction: Carfilzomib (K) was first approved in 2012 for the treatment of relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) at a dose of 27 mg/m2 twice weekly (27 BIW). The K dose has since been optimized; carfilzomib plus dexamethasone (Kd) is approved for patients with RRMM at a recommended K dose of 56 mg/m2 twice weekly (56 BIW) since 2016. Recently, the A.R.R.O.W trial showed that Kd 70mg/m2 once weekly (70 QW) significantly improved progression free survival compared to Kd 27 BIW. Considering the study time-period, however, patients are still treated with 27 BIW in the real-world leaving them possibly under-treated. The Kd 27 BIW, corresponds to a cumulative weekly dose (CWD) of K 120mg. Therefore, in order to understand the relationship between dose and outcomes we examined the impact of K-dosing (CWD >120mg [optimized dose-56 BIW/70 QW] vs. CWD ≤120 mg [27 BIW]) on time to next treatment (TTNT) and overall survival (OS) among patients treated with Kd regimen. Methods: IQVIA's Oncology Electronic Medical Records database was used to identify patients ≥18 years of age, with a diagnosis of MM between 1/1/2010 and 10/31/2017, receiving Kd regimen in any line of therapy, with ≥ 3 doses of K on or after their K-index date (first administration of K in the Kd regimen, between 1/1/2013 and 10/31/2017). Patients were required to have ≥ 3 doses of K in order to establish continuity and for calculating CWD. CWD was calculated as the cumulative sum of weekly dose of K received by the patient divided by the number of weeks with Kd administration. The first two K doses were excluded from the calculation of CWD as these represent the loading dose. OS and TTNT were compared between patients receiving optimized dose-56 BIW/70 QW vs. 27 BIW. OS was evaluated among the subset of patients with a recorded deceased or alive status and measured from the K-index date until death due to any cause or the end of the study period, where they were censored. TTNT was defined as the time from initiation of the Kd regimen until the start of a subsequent regimen that did not contain Kd (treatment progression). Additionally, a landmark analysis at 12 months from initiation of Kd regimen was conducted to measure the proportion of patients alive and the proportion of patients with treatment progression. Kaplan-Meier analysis was used to estimate OS and TTNT and the log-rank test was used to compare the groups. Adjusted hazard ratios for OS and TTNT were evaluated using Cox models. Results : A total of 1,469 eligible MM patients with ≥3 Kd administrations were identified, of which 129 (8.8%; mean age: 63.5, SD: 9.8) received optimized dose-56 BIW/70 QW and 1,340 (91.2%; mean age: 67.0, SD: 10.4) received 27 BIW. The median follow-up time was slightly over a year for patients in both cohorts. The median K dose was 147.0 mg among patients in optimized dose-56 BIW/70 QW group and 88.1 mg among patients in 27 BIW group. Median OS was not estimable (NE), however, OS for the optimized dose-56 BIW/70 QW group (n=78) was significantly longer than that of the 27 BIW group (n=771; p=0.002) (Fig. 1). The proportion of patients in optimized dose-56 BIW/70 QW group alive at 12 months was 90.3% compared to 79.7% for patients in 27 BIW group respectively. Covariate-adjusted cox model showed that patients in optimized dose-56 BIW/70 QW group had a 64% lower risk of death than patients in 27 BIW group (adjusted HR: 0.364; 95% CI: 0.178-0.745; p = 0.0057, Table 1). TTNT was significantly longer for patients in optimized dose-56 BIW/70 QW group compared to patients in 27 BIW group (p=0.023; median TTNT: 17.5 [95% CI: 14.8-NE] and 13.2, [95% CI: 12.4-14.4], respectively) (Fig. 2). Covariate-adjusted cox model showed that patients in optimized dose-56 BIW/70 QW group had a 33% lower risk of treatment progression than patients in 27 BIW group (adjusted HR: 0.669; 95% CI: 0.483-0.927; p=0.0155, Table 1). Conclusion: Among patients treated with Kd regimen, a smaller proportion were prescribed K at optimized dose-56 BIW/70 QW. Patients receiving the optimized dose-56 BIW/70 QW had significantly improved OS and TTNT compared to those receiving 27 BIW. Our findings suggest that these patient-relevant outcomes may be improved in a vast majority of RRMM patients currently under-treated with carfilzomib by optimizing the dose, taking into consideration patients' comorbidities and ability to tolerate therapy. Disclosures Medhekar: Amgen: Employment, Equity Ownership. Hines:Amgen: Consultancy. Panjabi:Amgen: Employment, Equity Ownership. Welliver:Amgen: Employment, Equity Ownership. Wang:Amgen: Consultancy. Wade:Amgen: Consultancy.

Proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 inhibitors (PCSK9is) significantly reduce LDL-C for patients uncontrolled with statin and/or ezetimibe. Payers restrict access to PCSK9is using stringent utilization management (UM) policies leading to high rejection rates. We describe acute