Photo Credit: DC Studio

The following is a summary of “Changes in use of migraine medications, healthcare resource utilization, and associated direct costs over 12 Months following initiation of Erenumab: A US retrospective real-world analysis,” published in the August 2024 issue of Pain by Urman et al.

Erenumab-aooe is an approved and preventive drug for migraine in adults, while some recent studies have suggested its medication use during 6 months after starting erenumab. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to investigate changes in healthcare resource utilization (HRU) and 12-month medication use associated with direct costs among patients initiating erenumab.

They evaluated patients with an erenumab claim in the Merative MarketScan Commercial and Medicare Databases from May 2018 to September 2019. Eligible patients had 12 months of continuous medical and pharmacy coverage in pre-index and post-index periods, the index date (first erenumab claim), and pre-index evidence of migraine. Patients were classified based on their post-index adherence to erenumab: ≥80% of days covered (adherent) or <80% of days covered (non-adherent), and both pre-and post-index outcomes were assessed

The results indicated that among 7,528 eligible patients, the average age was 45.1 years (SD = 11.4), with 85.4% female and 38.5% adhering to erenumab. Most patients used traditional migraine-preventive medications before starting erenumab, with a decrease in usage observed afterward (acute medication use dropped from 95.6% pre-index to 92.3% post-index; traditional preventive medication use decreased from 89.6% pre-index to 81.9% post-index). There were reductions in healthcare resource utilization, including emergency room visits (−3.8%) and brain and head imaging studies (−7.5%). The overall cost for acute and traditional preventive medications decreased by $764, while HRU costs slightly increased by $76. When analyzing costs by adherence, adherent patients saw a reduction of − $1,947, whereas non-adherent patients experienced a cost increase of $101.

They concluded that Erenumab demonstrated long-term clinical benefits in real-world settings despite most patients having prior use of acute and traditional migraine-preventive therapies.

Source: link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40122-024-00644-z