In Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, Influences from Hospital and Regional Payers are Increasingly Dictating the Order in Which Rheumatoid Arthritis Biologics are Prescribed, According to a New Report from Decision Resources
BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Decision Resources, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in the EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), the risk of increase in total cholesterol observed with Pfizer’s tofacitinib in clinical trials is likely to limit the drug’s initial uptake as up to 58 percent of surveyed rheumatologists in France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom expect to initially prescribe tofacitinib only to patients with normal cholesterol levels.
The new European Physician & Payer Forum report entitled What are European Physician and Payer Expectations for the Uptake of Emerging Oral Immunomodulators in Rheumatoid Arthritis? finds that in Spain, about three-quarters of rheumatologists indicate that they would be comfortable prescribing tofacitinib in combination with a statin without consulting a patient’s general practitioner or cardiologist. In contrast, only 44 percent of physicians in the United Kingdom and even fewer in the remaining EU5 countries share this view.
The report also finds that in Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, influences from hospital and regional payers are increasingly dictating the order in which rheumatoid arthritis biologics are prescribed. In Italy, hospitals may prefer certain therapies or restrict agents to narrower patient segments than noted in their European Medicines Agency labels, owing to the cost of treatment. Interviewed Spanish payers report that they refer to regional guidelines to inform physician prescribing and these guidelines can dictate the order in which biologics are prescribed.
“In the United Kingdom, primary care trusts are increasingly engaged in strategies to restrain costs that are expected to affect the prescribing of biologics for rheumatoid arthritis, including identifying preferred biologics by line of treatment and tracking the use of these drugs, despite the expectation that their cost will be fully reimbursed back to the primary care trusts,” said Decision Resources Product Therapeutic Area Director Madhuri Borde, Ph.D.
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KEYWORDS: United Kingdom United States Europe North America France Massachusetts Germany Italy
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Health Pharmaceutical
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