A comparison of clinical, utilization, and cost outcomes between oral treatments for multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) affects nearly 1 million people in the United States and causes significant disability and economic loss. Among the first available oral MS treatment options, clinical outcome comparisons and associated health care resource utilization are not clearly defined.

To compare MS outcomes, health care resource utilization, and relative costs across treatment with dimethyl fumarate (DMF), fingolimod (FG), or teriflunomide (TERI) among Medicare Advantage Prescription Drug (MAPD) plan and commercially insured beneficiaries.

This retrospective cohort study used the Humana Research Database. Eligible study patients had their first MS medication claim for oral DMG, FG, or TERI between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2018. Patients were followed for a minimum of 12 months (mean follow-up = 3.8 years), until the earliest of the following occurred: health plan disenrollment, the end of the study period, or death. Study cohorts were balanced with inverse probability of treatment weighting. All-cause and MS-related health care resource utilization, time on therapy, and time after therapy were compared using inverse probability of treatment-adjusted multivariate generalized linear models across treatment groups. Relative costs were compared using a generalized linear model with a gamma distribution and log link.

We identified 1,442 patients in 3 medication groups: DMF (n = 843), FG (n = 213), and TERI (n = 386). After weighting, there were no significant differences between the medication groups on demographic and clinical characteristics. Time on therapy (days) was significantly different across medication groups (P < 0.001). Time on therapy was longest for FG compared with the DM and TERI groups (644 vs 462 vs 521). The number discontinuing the index medication was significantly different for FG vs DMF vs TERI (74.7% vs 85.3% vs 80.7%; P < 0.001). FG had the lowest discontinuation rate. The mean (SD) annualized relapse rates (ARRs) were 0.47 (0.80), 0.42 (1.3), and 0.53 (1.3) (P = 0.037) for DMF, FG, and TERI, respectively. The percentage of those experiencing inpatient stays and the number of stays (mean [SD]) were significantly different among the FG group vs DMF vs TERI (29.9% vs 34.1% vs 40.9%; P < 0.001) and (0.57 [2.9] vs 0.74 [1.9] vs 0.91 [3.5]; P = 0.007), respectively. All-cause emergency department visits and the number of visits (mean [SD]) were significantly different for the FG cohort vs DMF vs TERI (46% vs 54.3% vs 61%; P < 0.001) and (1.84 [7.7] vs 2.38 [5.9] vs 2.87 [8.8]; P = 0.002), respectively. FG had the lowest impatient stays and emergency department visits of the 3 groups.

Patients with MS initiated on FG used fewer health care resources and experienced lower ARR compared with patients on DMF and TERI.