Studies Conducted at University of California at San Diego on Biologics Recently Reported (Market Access Analysis of Biologics and Small-Molecule Inhibitors for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Among US Health Insurance Policies)

2019 AUG 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on Biotechnology - Biologics are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating in La Jolla, United States, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “Treatment pathways for ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD) are shifting to a more individualized, risk-stratified approach. The perception is that insurance policies may not have implemented this paradigm shift, particularly regarding access to newer agents.”

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the University of California at San Diego, “We evaluated patient access to advanced therapies by analyzing policy information from the Managed Markets Insight and Technology database. Coverage status as of December 2018 for all US lives was queried for adalimumab, infliximab, infliximab-dyyb, tofacitinib, ustekinumab, and vedolizumab by indication (UC and/or CD) and medical or pharmacy coverage benefit. Coverage status was classified by the number of biologic steps before access to specified drug as ‘No Biologic,’ ‘1 Prior Biologic,’ ‘2+ Prior Biologics,’ ‘Not Covered.’ Unknown lives were excluded from the analyses. Coverage analysis was available for approximately 302 million lives under each medical and pharmacy benefit. Our analysis indicates that approximately half of covered lives had access to all agents (except tofacitinib) as first-line therapy; two-thirds had access after one biologic exposure. Among newer agents, vedolizumab had the widest coverage. For indications of UC and CD, 81% of known lives had access to vedolizumab with no prior biologic exposure required (‘No Biologic’), 95% after ‘No Biologic’ + ‘1 prior Biologic.’ Geographic variations were identified for coverage patterns. This US-based healthcare policy analysis points to an increased access to advanced therapies for UC and CD.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “An individualized, risk-stratified treatment approach integrating advanced therapies, including those recently approved, into treatment pathways for UC and CD is feasible.”

For more information on this research see: Market Access Analysis of Biologics and Small-Molecule Inhibitors for Inflammatory Bowel Disease Among US Health Insurance Policies. Digestive Diseases and Sciences, 2019;64(9):2478-2488. Digestive Diseases and Sciences can be contacted at: Springer, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA. (Springer - www.springer.com; Digestive Diseases and Sciences - http://www.springerlink.com/content/0163-2116/)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting P.S. Dulai, Division of Gastroenterology, University of California - San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093, United States. Additional authors for this research include M.T. Osterman, K. Lasch, C. Cao, F. Riaz and W.J Sandborn.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-019-05594-7. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

The publisher of the journal Digestive Diseases and Sciences can be contacted at: Springer, 233 Spring Street, New York, NY 10013, USA.

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