Substantial Costs Associated With Acute Bleeding Events in Hemophilia A

Information on costs related to the treatment of acute bleeding events in patients with hemophilia A is lacking, so researchers evaluated the healthcare resource utilization and costs associated with this area of treatment. The results of the study were presented at the AMCP Annual Meeting during a poster session titled “Healthcare Resource Utilization and Costs Associated with Treatment of Acute Bleeding Events Among Patients with Hemophilia A in the United States.”

The retrospective, observational study used data from 29 U.S. hematologists, including medical charts for patients with hemophilia A who experienced one acute bleeding event requiring an outpatient, emergency room, and/or inpatient visit between 2015 and 2017.

Researchers assessed patient characteristics and detailed healthcare resource utilization information during bleeding events (e.g., type of visit, procedures and tests performed, medications administered). They estimated costs by applying utilization information to unit prices from publicly available data sources; and costs per acute bleeding event were summarized by presence or absence of inhibitors at the time of the bleeding event.

A total of 180 bleeding events occurred—114 with inhibitors at the time of the event and 66 without—among 143 patients. Thirty-seven percent required at least one hospitalization, 33% required at least one emergency room visit, and 38% required at least one outpatient visit.

The median total medical and medication costs to treat a bleeding event was $18,949 (mean, $44,119; standard deviation [SD], $55,614) for patients with inhibitors and $5,616 (mean, $30,051; SD, $39,803) for patients without inhibitors.

Excluding medications—such as factor VIII and bypassing agents—the median medical cost for treating a bleeding event was $180 (mean, $29,498; SD, $41,466) for patients with inhibitors and $137 (mean, $25,160; SD, $37,881) for patients without inhibitors.

“These study findings demonstrated substantial costs associated with treatment of acute bleeding events in patients with hemophilia A…[and] also highlight the unmet need for effective therapies to prevent acute bleeding [in these patients],” the researchers concluded.

The study was sponsored by Genentech.

Song J, Chamberlain C, Rokito A, Cammarota J, Ma E, Xu Y, Betts K. Healthcare Resource Utilization and Costs Associated with Treatment of Acute Bleeding Events Among Patients with Hemophilia A in the United States. Abstract D6. Presented at the AMCP Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting, April 23-26; Boston, MA.