Costs and management of patients with hemophilia A in France: the Hemraude study

An observational study of haemophilia A patients without inhibitors using the French national claims (SNDS) database

OBJECTIVES

To describe clinical characteristics, factor consumption, and events of interest in patients with haemophilia A without inhibitors receiving prophylaxis in France, and the clinical impact of switching to Elocta® in this population.

METHODS

This retrospective, observational study using the Système National des Données de Santé database, analysed data from patients with haemophilia A without inhibitors using prophylactic factor VIII (FVIII) replacement therapy during 2016-2019. Clinical characteristics, treatment patterns and switches, factor consumption, and rate of events of interest were determined. In a sub-cohort of patients treated with Elocta®, clinical characteristics, factor consumption, and rate of events of interest before and after switching to Elocta® were compared.

RESULTS

For 545 patients, with mean age (standard deviation [SD]) 25.4 (17.8) years, Elocta® was the most used treatment. Bleeding events and articular non-bleeding events leading to hospitalization occurred in 15.4% and 13.9% of patients, respectively, and 9.9% of patients had surgeries or procedures related to haemophilic arthropathy. The mean (SD) FVIII product consumption was 344 (93) IU/kg/month for extended half-life treatment, and 331 (98) IU/kg/month for standard half-life products. For the sub-cohort of 146 patients, bleeding events (SD) decreased from 0.32 (2.2) to 0.09 (0.42) events/patient/year (p = 0.227) after switching to Elocta®. There was no statistically significant difference in rates of factor consumption or articular non-bleeding events before and after initiation of Elocta®.

CONCLUSION

This study provides real-world insights that advance the understanding of treatment patterns and events of interest in patients with haemophilia A on prophylactic regimens in France.

Clinical and economic burden of immune tolerance induction in entire patients with hemophilia A: Insights from a real-world Korean setting

INTRODUCTION

The most notable challenge facing hemophilia A treatment is the development of inhibitors against factor VIII, resulting in increased clinical and socioeconomic burdens due to the need for expensive bypassing agents (BPAs). Although immune tolerance induction (ITI) is currently the primary approach for inhibiting and reducing the inhibitors, the lengthy duration of ITI necessitates the continued use of BPA to manage bleeding episodes. In this study, we aimed to obtain real-world evidence on the clinical and economic aspects and associated burdens experienced by patients with hemophilia A with inhibitors undergoing ITI in Korea.

METHODS

Claims data from January 1, 2007, to December 31, 2020, were used in this study. The study cohort comprised patients with hemophilia A undergoing ITI, who were categorized into three groups: successful, failed, or continuation of ITI. We evaluated clinical and economic burdens, including monthly healthcare visits, medication costs, and total medical expenses.

RESULTS

The study involved 33 cases of ITI across 32 patients. Excluding seven continuation cases where success could not be determined at the observation point, the estimated success rate of ITI was 80.8 %. The median duration of ITI for all patients was 25.7 months. While no significant disparities were noted in the ITI duration between successful and unsuccessful cases (24.51 vs. 25.66 months), substantial discrepancies were observed in the duration of BPA usage (11.10 vs. 25.66 months) and the number of prescribed BPAs (1.79 vs. 2.97).

CONCLUSION

Successful ITI reduced both clinical and economic burdens, resulting in decreased monthly medication expenses and overall medical costs.

Treatment-related outcome from patient report outcome (PRO) of children with severe and moderate hemophilia A in China: An analysis report of registration data from patient organization "hemophilia home care center"

OBJECTIVES

To assess current treatment-related outcomes for children with severe and moderate haemophilia A (cHA) in China.

METHODS

This cross-section Patient Report Outcome (PRO) report collected PRO data of severe and moderate cHAs registered in the 'Hemophilia Home Care Center' database (http://web.bjxueyou.cn) between January 2021 and November 2022. Data included records of bleeding, activities, and concentrates consumption. All patients had a confirmed diagnosis of moderate or severe haemophilia A (FVIII: C ≤ 5%) and were < 18 years old.

RESULTS

Among 1038 analysable cases, 9.6% of children with inhibitors had a higher rate of intracranial haemorrhage, dropout school rate, and higher FVIII consumption than children without inhibitors. Among 100 children with inhibitors, 36 patients were treated without immune tolerance induction (ITI), 14 patients with irregular treatment and 50 patients received ITI. Children with ITI had a lower ABR (2.4 (0,6.6) vs. 13.4 (9.5, 26.6), p<.001) and AJBR (0 (0, 3.1) vs. 8.9 (1.6, 19.3), p < .001) compared to those without ITI. Among 938 children without inhibitors, 28.5% received on-demand treatment and 71.5% received prophylaxis. Of 528 children with 1343.8 (1050.4, 2922.9)IU/kg/year median FVIII consumption, 43.0% received low-dose, 43.2% received intermediate-dose, and 13.8% received high-dose regimen; these children with prophylaxis had a lower ABR (3.1 (0, 10.7) vs. 12.8 (2.4, 45.5), p < .001), AJBR (0.5 (0, 3.9) vs. 3.0 (0, 12.0), p < .001) and disability rate (9.0% vs.18.5%, p = .032) compared to children who received on-demand treatment.

CONCLUSION

The high rate of drop-out of school and disability still present a huge gap to meet the needs in China. It is necessary to improve the level of medical accessibility and medicine affordability and strengthen the patient/parent's education in China.

A review of the rationale for gene therapy for hemophilia A with inhibitors: one-shot tolerance and treatment?

The therapeutic landscape for people living with hemophilia A (PwHA) has changed dramatically in recent years, but many clinical challenges remain, including the development of inhibitory antibodies directed against factor VIII (FVIII) that occur in approximately 30% of people with severe hemophilia A. Emicizumab, an FVIII mimetic bispecific monoclonal antibody, provides safe and effective bleeding prophylaxis for many PwHA, but clinicians still explore therapeutic strategies that result in immunologic tolerance to FVIII to enable effective treatment with FVIII for problematic bleeding events. This immune tolerance induction (ITI) to FVIII is typically accomplished through repeated long-term exposure to FVIII using a variety of protocols. Meanwhile, gene therapy has recently emerged as a novel ITI option that provides an intrinsic, consistent source of FVIII. As gene therapy and other therapies now expand therapeutic options for PwHA, we review the persistent unmet medical needs with respect to FVIII inhibitors and effective ITI in PwHA, the immunology of FVIII tolerization, the latest research on tolerization strategies, and the role of liver-directed gene therapy to mediate FVIII ITI.

Economic Evaluation of Immune Tolerance Induction in Children With Severe Hemophilia A and High-Responding Inhibitors: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Prophylaxis With Emicizumab

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to measure the cost-effectiveness of prophylaxis with emicizumab in PsHAhri on ITI in Brazil.

METHODS

A cost-effectiveness modeling analysis was used to estimate the costs per PsHAhri on ITI and the number of prevented bleedings from undertaking one intervention (prophylaxis with BpA) over another (prophylaxis with emicizumab), based on the Brazilian Ministry of Health perspective. Costs of ITI with recombinant FVIII, prophylaxis with BpA or emicizumab, and treated bleeding episodes with BpA costs were evaluated for PsHAhri who had ITI success or failure. This study was conducted with the perspective of the Brazilian Ministry of Health (payer).

RESULTS

During ITI, prophylaxis with BpA cost US $924 666/PsHAhri/ITI, whereas prophylaxis with emicizumab cost US $488 785/PsHAhri/ITI. During ITI, there was an average of 9.32 bleeding episodes/PsHAhri/ITI when BpA were used as prophylaxis and 0.67 bleeding/PsHAhri/ITI when emicizumab was used. By univariate deterministic sensitivity analysis, emicizumab remained dominant whichever variable was modified.

CONCLUSION

In this study, prophylaxis with emicizumab during ITI is a dominant option compared with prophylaxis with BpA during ITI.

rFVIII-Fc in severe haemophilia A: The incentive switch in case of high risk of joint bleedings

BACKGROUND

Efmoroctocog alfa, the first recombinant factor VIII fusion protein with extended half-life (rFVIII-Fc), has been hypothesized to lower FVIII consumption in patients with severe Haemophilia A (pwSHA), without reducing clinical efficacy. What about real life?

METHOD

MOTHIF-II was a noninterventional, multicentre, before/after study, via the collection of retrospective data from July 2015 to June 2016 (called T1), and from July 2017 to June 2018 (called T2), in 7 French haemophilia treatment centres. We examined the prescriptions and dispensations of factor VIII and the Annual Bleeding Rate (ABR), in pwSHA without current inhibitors on prophylaxis, before and after the introduction of rFVIII-Fc. The data gathered from the BERHLINGO research database and from the French Healthcare claims database with a determinist pairing process based on the national unique identification number.

RESULTS

A total of 156 pwSHA were included in the prescription cohort and 83 in the ABR cohort. For switched patients, the mean amounts of prescribed FVIII were significantly higher during T1 compared to T2 (4333 (2052) vs. 3921 (2029) IU/kg/year/patient, p: 0.028); a significant decrease in their ABR was also observed between T1 and T2 (6.3 (6.0) vs. 4.4 (5.4), p: 0.047). These patients had a more severe bleeding profile centred on haemarthrosis.

CONCLUSION

The results are related to those of the pivotal clinical trials for the reduction in FVIII consumption following the switch to rFVIII-Fc, with a significant improvement in the haemorrhagic phenotype for pwSHA.

Haemophilia in France: Modelisation of the Clinical Pathway for Patients

Process-of-care studies participate in improving the efficiency of the care pathway for patient with haemophilia (CPPH) and rationalize the multidisciplinary management of patients. Our objective is to establish a current overview of the different actors involved in the management of patients with haemophilia and to provide an accurate description of the patient trajectory. This is a qualitative exploratory research based on interviews of the principal health professionals of four haemophilia services, between November 2019 and February 2020, in France. Mapping of the CPPH processes within the different institutions and/or services, as well as the rupture zones, were identified. Treatment delivery and biological analyses were carried out exclusively in healthcare institutions. The main liberal health professionals solicited were nurses, physiotherapists and general practitioner. Obstacles and barriers within the specialized service, with other hospital services and external hospital or private services, community health care providers et community environment and individual one was complex and multiples. Our research identified potential concerns that need to be addressed to improve future studies to identify influential elements. Similarly, other qualitative studies will have to be conducted on the perceptions and literacy of patients with haemophilia to develop a global interactive mapping of their trajectories.