Impact of pregabalin on the cost of pharmacotherapy for fibromyalgia from a US perspective

This study examined the effect of pregabalin therapy on cost of concomitant pain medications from a US perspective in patients with fibromyalgia. Using data from a US open-label clinical study, we examined the impact of pregabalin on the use of pain-related medications among 25 patients with fibromyalgia who had moderate to severe pain and had previously failed treatment with tricyclic antidepressants, gabapentin, and at least one third-line agent. Drug utilization was examined for the 30 days prior to initiation of pregabalin therapy (“pretreatment period”) and for each of five subsequent open-label treatment periods with pregabalin, each separated by four “drug holidays.” US-specific unit costs were combined with utilization data from the study to estimate the impact of pregabalin on costs of pharmacotherapy. Results showed that thirty-six percent of patients used tricyclic antidepressants during pretreatment; during treatment with pregabalin, this number ranged from 5.6 percent to 20 percent. Use of gabapentin was 64.0 percent during pretreatment and ranged from 0 percent to 32 percent during treatment with pregabalin; for third-line therapies, corresponding figures were 64 percent during pretreatment and 44.4 percent to 68 percent during pregabalin treatment. Reflecting this overall reduced utilization of other pain-related medications, the estimated reduction in the daily cost of pharmacotherapy from pretreatment ranged from 0.46 USD to 0.97 USD. These findings indicate that treatment of fibromyalgia with pregabalin is likely to be associated with substantially reduced use of other pain-related medications and cost savings based on US drug costs.

(D'Urso De Cruz E, et al, Eur J Neurol, 2005)

Supported by a grant from Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals