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Cost and Resource Use of Pemphigus and Pemphigoid Disorders Pre- and Post-Rituximab
Kara Heelan1, Shazia Hassan2, Grace Bannon2
1Division of Dermatology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ONHealth Outcomes and PharmacoEconomics (HOPE) Research Centre, Sunnybrook Research Institute, University of Toronto, Toronto, ONDivision of Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology at Sunnybrook, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ONDepartment of Pharmacology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ONInternational Centre for Health Innovation, Richard Ivey School of Business, Western University, London, ON karaheelan@yahoo.com.
Background:
Rituximab (RTX) is increasingly used for the treatment of pemphigus and pemphigoid disorders. The high cost of RTX frequently limits its use and access.
Objective:
To determine the health system resources and costs associated with RTX treatment of pemphigus and pemphigoid.
Methods:
Health system resources and costs attributed to a convenience sample of 89 patients with either pemphigus or pemphigoid were identified, quantified, and valued 6 months prior to and following RTX initiation between May 2006 and August 2012. Overall cohort costs and costs per patient were calculated (2013 Can$).
Results:
The overall cohort cost for 6 months pre-RTX was $3.8 million and for 6 months post-RTX was $2.6 million. The average cost per patient decreased from $42,231 to $29,423 (30.3% decrease). The main cost driver was intravenous immunoglobulin.
Conclusions:
Our findings suggest that RTX is effective in reducing health system resources and the costs associated with the treatment of pemphigus and pemphigoid.
