Presentations & Events

Research conducted by PHAR and supported by Amgen was presented in the poster sessions at AMCP Nexus in Denver, CO. PHAR’s claims analysis on psoriatic arthritis (PsA) patients compared biologic initiation risk in systematic-naïve PsA adult patients using apremilast versus methotrexate, building on research previously presented at AMCP 2021 and AAD VMX. The investigators’ findings suggest that patients who initiate apremilast are more adherent and have a lower likelihood of biologic initiation when compared with patients initiating methotrexate. In patients who do need biologics, time to biologic initiation is longer in apremilast users than in methotrexate users. The poster can be viewed on PHAR’s publications page and the abstract was published in the October supplement issue of AMCP’s Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy (JMCP).

Two studies conducted by PHAR were presented at the 37th Congress of the European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS). The first study, done in partnership with Sanofi US, examined the effectiveness of teriflunomide in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) who switched from other DMTs following disease progression. The authors of this retrospective chart review study observed that RMS patients who switched to teriflunomide after progression may have experienced reductions in EDSS scores and stable or reduced relapse rates. In the second study, PHAR collaborated with Genentech to develop a claims-based algorithm to identify patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) and distinguish them from patients with multiple sclerosis and other central nervous system inflammatory disorders, allowing researchers and clinicians to better estimate NMOSD burden. The posters can be viewed on the PHAR website publications page and the abstracts were published in the October supplement issue of Multiple Sclerosis Journal.

PHAR’s Sheila Reiss Reddy, PhD, RPh, Eunice Chang, PhD, and Marian Tarbox, MPP, in collaboration with investigators at Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., presented at the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses 17th Annual Meeting. The study found that patients diagnosed with hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTRv [variant]) have considerable cardiovascular disease burden in the 5 years preceding diagnosis. Heart failure nurses’ recognition of ATTRv cardiovascular manifestations may increase clinical suspicion, leading to earlier diagnosis. The poster can be found here, and the abstract published in Heart & Lung‘s July/August 2021 issue.

Alongside PHAR’s first virtual exhibit presence at Virtual ISPOR 2021, PHAR investigators presented their findings outlining the national burden of achondroplasia in adults and children, done in conjunction with BioMarin Pharmaceutical. Their examination of the National Inpatient Sample, the largest all-payer inpatient healthcare database in the US, provided the first national estimate of the cost or burden of hospitalization and surgery in adults and children with achondroplasia. They estimated that the annual cost of hospitalization alone was $40 million. The iPoster can be viewed here, and the abstract was published in the May 2021 supplement issue of Value in Health.

PHAR’s Sheila Reiss Reddy, PhD, RPh, Eunice Chang, PhD, and Marian Tarbox, MPP, in collaboration with investigators at Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., conducted two studies investigating cardiovascular complications associated with transthyretin-mediated (ATTR) amyloidosis. Their first study analyzed a large US insurance claims database to identify patients with ATTR amyloidosis and cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) and to estimate the US prevalence and incidence of ATTR-CM. Their second study examined cardiovascular symptom manifestation and healthcare use leading up to an ATTR diagnosis among Medicare beneficiaries in the US. Their findings were presented as posters at American College of Cardiology’s 70th Annual Scientific Session & Expo and can be found on the PHAR publications page, and published as abstracts in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology‘s May 2021 supplement issue.

PHAR presented research on transthyretin-mediated (ATTR) amyloidosis and Huntington’s disease (HD) at the virtual 2021 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. PHAR’s Sheila Reiss Reddy, PhD, RPh, Eunice Chang, PhD, and Marian Tarbox, MPP, in partnership with Akcea Therapeutics, Inc., investigated the feasibility of estimating ATTR amyloidosis prevalence and incidence using IBM® MarketScan® Commercial and Medicare databases. They also presented research on the clinical characteristics and resource use patterns among Medicare beneficiaries with ATTR amyloidosis in the years before diagnosis. In addition, PHAR’s Sheila Reiss Reddy, PhD, RPh, and Eunice Chang, PhD, in partnership with Genentech, Inc., presented their findings on healthcare resource use among US Medicare beneficiaries with late-onset HD. The posters for these studies can be found on the PHAR publications page, and the abstracts were published in Neurology’s April 2021 supplement issue. 

PHAR’s Sheila Reiss Reddy, PhD, RPh, and Eunice Chang, PhD, in collaboration with GRAIL, analyzed 2012-2016 data from the linked SEER registry-Medicare claims database calculating and comparing the cancer-related costs of 17 cancers by stage of diagnosis. Their findings show patients diagnosed at later stages of cancer have higher costs of care (up to 7 times as much) than those diagnosed at earlier stages. Earlier cancer diagnosis may lead to more efficient treatment and decreased management cost. A poster detailing the findings was presented at the Annual Conference of the Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association and can be viewed here, and the abstract was published in the March 2021 special feature issue of the Journal of Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy.