Health Care Resource Utilization Before And After Natalizumab Initiation Among Patients With Multiple Sclerosis In Germany

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS), a progressive neurodegenerative disease, greatly impacts the quality of life and economic status of people affected by this disease. In Germany, the total annual cost of MS is estimated at (sic) 40,000 per person with MS. Natalizumab has shown to slow MS disease progression, reduce relapses, and improve the quality of life of people with MS.Objective: To evaluate MS-related and all-cause health care resource utilization and costs among German MS patients during the 12 months before and after initiation of natalizumab in a real-world setting.Methods: The current analysis was conducted using the Health Risk Institute research database. Identified patients were aged >= 18 years with >= 1 diagnosis of MS and had initiated natalizumab therapy (index), with 12-month pre- and post-index-period data. Patients were stratified by prior disease-modifying therapy (DMT) usage or no DMT usage in the pre-index period. Outcome measures included corticosteroid use and number of sick/disability days, inpatient stays, and outpatient visits. Health care costs were calculated separately for pre- and post-index periods on a per-patient basis and adjusted for inflation.Results: In a final sample of 193 natalizumab-treated patients, per-patient MS-related corticosteroid use was reduced by 62.3%, MS-related sick days by 27.6%, and inpatient costs by 78.3% from the pre- to post-index period. Furthermore, the proportion of patients with MS-related hospitalizations decreased from 49.7% to 14.0% (P<0.001); this reduction was seen for patients with and without prior DMT use.Conclusions: In a real-world setting in Germany, initiation of natalizumab treatment in people with MS significantly reduced MS-related hospitalizations, corticosteroid use, sick days, and associated costs.