People taking the most commonly used generic and branded statins to
control their cholesterol had similar observable rates of cardiovascular
events, but their total treatment costs were as much as 30 percent
higher with branded drugs, according to comparative effectiveness
research presented today at the 17th Annual International
Meeting of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes
Research.
This is one of the first, large-scale, real-world studies comparing the
most commonly used branded and generic statins. Real-world data—in the
form of analysis of healthcare claims data –can supplement clinical
trial data and assist in understanding the effectiveness of these drugs
as they are used along with other drugs and medical products outside of
a clinical trial setting.
The CER study, conducted by health benefits company WellPoint, Inc., and
its outcomes research subsidiary, HealthCore, Inc., used medical and
pharmacy claims data from geographically diverse affiliated health plans
in the United States.
“We found that people treated with branded statins and generic statins
were observed to have similar lowering of the rate of cardiovascular
events,” said Jeff White, WellPoint director of drug evaluation. “We saw
comparable medical costs to treat members on both branded and generic
products. In total cost-of-care analyses covering a three-year period,
branded products were more expensive because they are typically priced
higher than generics, even though their associated medical costs were
similar.”
Medical costs included hospitalization, emergency room services,
long-term care, physician visits, laboratory tests and all others costs
covered by the member’s benefit, excluding pharmacy costs. Total costs
included medical and pharmacy costs.
“As a company, WellPoint’s goal is to find ways to help ensure members
of our affiliated health plans receive quality health care while
maintaining the affordability of health care,” said Dr. Alan Rosenberg,
WellPoint vice president of medical and pharmacy policy. “This research
is just one example of our efforts to find ways to achieve this goal.”
The study used data based on members who had at least one pharmacy claim
for atorvastatin, rosuvastatin, simvastatin, simvastatin/ezetimibe,
pravastatin, or lovastatin during the period between Jan. 1, 2007 and
Dec. 31, 2008. Members were followed for three years. A total of 31,224
members were included, with 25,055 identified as primary prevention for
those at risk of cardiovascular disease and 6,159 identified as
secondary prevention for those who had a previous claim indicating a
prior cardiovascular event. The study used statistical analysis to
control for factors that may impact the results, such as age, sex,
geographic region, member copayments and disease severity.
“The results were generally the same whether patients were taking
statins to prevent a first heart attack or other cardiovascular event or
whether they took them after experiencing a heart attack,” said White.
“As with most observational analyses, this study shows associations
rather than cause and effect.”
The study was conducted by Jennifer Wang, PharmD, Jeff White, PharmD,
MS, Vicki Fisher, PharmD, MS, Andrea DeVries, PhD, Brian McNeely, PhD,
RPh, and Jacob Abarca, PharmD, MS.
About WellPoint, Inc.
At WellPoint, we believe there is an important connection between our
members’ health and well-being—and the value we bring our customers and
shareholders. So each day we work to improve the health of our members
and their communities. And, we can make a real difference since we have
nearly 34 million people in our branded health plans, and more than 62
million people served through our subsidiaries. As an independent
licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, WellPoint serves
members as the Blue Cross licensee for California; the Blue Cross and
Blue Shield licensee for Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana,
Kentucky, Maine, Missouri (excluding 30 counties in the Kansas City
area), Nevada, New Hampshire, New York (as the Blue Cross Blue Shield
licensee in 10 New York City metropolitan and surrounding counties and
as the Blue Cross or Blue Cross Blue Shield licensee in selected upstate
counties only), Ohio, Virginia (excluding the Northern Virginia suburbs
of Washington, D.C.), and Wisconsin. In a majority of these service
areas, WellPoint’s plans do business as Anthem Blue Cross, Anthem Blue
Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia and Empire
Blue Cross Blue Shield, or Empire Blue Cross (in the New York service
areas). WellPoint also serves customers throughout the country as
UniCare and in certain California, Arizona and Nevada markets through
our CareMore subsidiary. Additional information about WellPoint is
available at www.wellpoint.com
