Infliximab use cuts ulcerative colitis hospitalizations
Last Updated: 2006-10-26 15:56:03 -0400 (Reuters Health) By Anthony J. Brown, MD
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Treatment with infliximab (Remicade) can reduce the average number of hospitalizations per year for ulcerative colitis by about 50%, according to study findings presented this week at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting in Las Vegas.
"This is not the first long term data (for Remicade)," Michael Parks, a spokesperson with Remicade maker Centocor, Inc., told Reuters Health, "but it is the first data to demonstrate such a reduction in hospitalizations in this severe patient population."
The findings, which were presented by lead investigator Dr. William Sandborn of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, are based on an analysis of long-term data from two phase II trials -- the Active Ulcerative Colitis Trial (ACT) 1 and ACT 2. Results of another study presented at the meeting suggest that the drop in hospitalizations achieved with infliximab translates into major cost savings.
ACT 1 and 2 each involved 364 patients with active ulcerative colitis that was resistant to one or more standard therapies. The subjects in both studies were randomized to receive conventional therapy alone or in combination with infliximab at one of two doses.
An analysis of data from ACT 1 showed that the average number of hospitalizations per 100 patients fell from 22 to 12 at 1 year with infliximab use (p = 0.061). Moreover, infliximab use was associated with an increase in the time to first hospitalization (p = 0.032).
When data from ACT 1 and 2 were analyzed, infliximab use was associated with a drop in the percentage of ulcerative colitis hospitalizations involving the use of high-dose corticosteroids. Thirteen such hospitalizations were noted among 484 infliximab-treated patients compared with 19 per 244 control patients (p = 0.025).
Omar Dabbus, from Centocor, Inc. analyzed data from PharMetrics, a medical claims database, to determine the costs associated with ulcerative colitis hospitalization.
Ulcerative colitis patients who require hospitalization incur costs that are more than three times greater than that of patients who require chronic pharmacotherapy and more than five times higher than that of all other ulcerative colitis patients, the report indicates. Inpatient healthcare costs for the former group averaged $24,693 per individual, whereas those in the latter two groups did not exceed $2000.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Treatment with infliximab (Remicade) can reduce the average number of hospitalizations per year for ulcerative colitis by about 50%, according to study findings presented this week at the American College of Gastroenterology meeting in Las Vegas.
