Summary: | Darrell E White,1 Yang Zhao,2 Abayomi Ogundele,2 Nicole Fulcher,3 Annabel Acs,3 Laura Moore-Schiltz,3 Paul M Karpecki4 1Department of Ophthalmology, SkyVision Centers, Westlake, OH 44145, USA; 2Health Economics and Outcomes Research, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Princeton, NJ 08540, USA; 3Outcomes Research, IBM Watson Health, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; 4Corneal Services and Advanced OSD Clinic, University of Pikeville Kentucky College of Optometry, Pikeville, KY 41501, USACorrespondence: Yang ZhaoHealth Economics and Outcomes Research, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, Inc., 2 Independence Way, Princeton, NJ 08540, USATel +1 609 720 8132Email yang.zhao@sunpharma.comPurpose: To assess adherence, non-persistence, discontinuation, and switching of topical cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion 0.05% (CYC) and lifitegrast ophthalmic solution 5% (LIF) use in the real world among patients with dry eye disease (DED).Design: Retrospective insurance claims study.Methods: Adult patients with DED and ≥1 prescription claim for CYC or LIF (first claim = index date) in the IBM® MarketScan® databases from July 2016 to February 2018 were identified. Eligible patients had continuous medical and pharmacy benefits in the 12 months pre- and post-index periods, and no prior use of the index medication. The proportion of days covered (PDC), adherence, non-persistence, discontinuation, and switching were examined over the 12-month post-index period.Results: This study included 6537 CYC and 3235 LIF patients. The adherence rate was 5.9% for CYC and 9.7% for LIF; the median PDC was 0.3 for both cohorts. Overall, 70.8% of CYC and 64.4% of LIF patients discontinued treatment with median days to discontinuation of 89 and 29, respectively. Non-persistence was 7.1% for CYC and 6.8% for LIF (median days to discontinuation: 89 and 105). In addition, 5.0% switched from CYC to LIF, and 9.6% switched from LIF to CYC over the post-index period.Conclusion: Over 60% of DED patients discontinued treatment within 12 months of initiation; the median time to discontinuation was 3 months for CYC and 1 month for LIF. Although this analysis did not capture the reasons why patients discontinued treatment, the results demonstrate there likely exists a significant unmet need amongst DED patients.Keywords: dry eye disease, adherence, persistence, cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion, lifitegrast ophthalmic solution
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