Exploring the impact of the national tender system on the use of costly drugs treating rheumatoid arthritis patients in ten rheumatology centers in Norway (2010-2019).

ABSTRACT:

Background

Biologic and targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (b/tsDMARDs) are highly effective in treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA), albeit high drug cost has restricted their use in many countries. As a countermeasure, Norway implemented pharmaceutical tendering as a cost-reducing strategy. The aim of this study was to assess the annual proportion of different b/tsDMARDs registered to treat RA patients under the influence of a Norwegian pharmaceutical tendering between 2010 and 2019.

Method

The data is collected from ten Norwegian outpatient centers. The included patients are categorized as naïve, non-naïve, and current b/tsDMARD users. 13 individual b/tsDMARDs are assessed and compared with the tender rankings from each year. Overview of subcutaneous (

SUBMITTER: Brkic A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10486045 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature