You are here

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Volume 64, Issue Suppl 1
  • PTH-083 Selective monitoring of antitnf drug levels and antibodies will reduce short-term prescribing costs and provide early personalised tailoring of antitnf therapy in routine ibd practice

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Inflammatory Bowel Disease III
PTH-083 Selective monitoring of antitnf drug levels and antibodies will reduce short-term prescribing costs and provide early personalised tailoring of antitnf therapy in routine ibd practice
  1. TA Tandiari1,
  2. A Ibarra1,
  3. L Younge1,
  4. A Palma Allepuz1,
  5. A Thompson1,
  6. U Meade2,
  7. Z Arkir3,
  8. E Giles1,
  9. L Langmead1,
  10. JO Lindsay1,
  11. G Parkes1,
  12. D Rampton1
  1. 1Department of Gastroenterology, Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust
  2. 2Department of Pharmacy, Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust
  3. 3Viapath, St Thomas’ Hospital, London, UK

Abstract

Introduction Clinical trial results suggest that measurement of antiTNF drug levels (ATL) and antibodies (ATA) may have a cost-saving as well as clinically beneficial effect in patients with IBD. We aimed to assess whether selective monitoring of ATL and ATA reduces prescribing costs and how it affects clinical decisions in ordinary clinical practice.

Method ATL and ATA were assayed in 47 (19%) of our 247 antiTNF-treated IBD patients (Crohn’s disease 41, ulcerative colitis 4 and pouchitis 2; (on infliximab 45, on adalimumab 2)) because of either secondary loss of response (n = 11) or a dosage of infliximab (IFX) exceeding 5 mg/kg every 8 weeks (n = 36). ATL and ATA were measured by automated LISA-TRACKER assay (Theradiag, France) at Viapath, St Thomas’ Hospital. For each patient, the outcomes of decisions about therapeutic strategy based on clinical assessment alone were compared against those based on assay results combined with clinical criteria. AntiTNF prescribing and surgery costs were predicted for the ensuing 4 months for the two decision-making strategies, assuming that infliximab phials were shared.

Results Outcomes of the decisions taken are summarised in the Table. Prescribing costs estimated for the subsequent 4 months (17 weeks) for clinically based decisions were £225,825 and for assay based strategies were £209,772 (£3525 assay costs included). Predicted total cost savings using the assay based decisions, taking into account referrals for surgery and for trial drugs, were £16,053 in 4 months. Clinically based decisions led to more patients staying on antiTNFs, while assay-based decisions caused more patients to be switched to an alternative antiTNF, recruited to trials and referred for surgery. In 19/47 patients, both decision-making approaches gave the same outcome.

View this table:
Abstract PTH-083 Table 1

Conclusion Measurement of antiTNF drug levels and antibodies in selected patients should produce short-term cost savings in ordinary clinical practice. Longer follow-up is needed to assess the clinical impact of the decisions made using these assays in combination with clinical criteria, but is likely to amplify the savings they make possible.

Disclosure of interest None Declared.

https://doi.org/10.1136/gutjnl-2015-309861.971

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.