FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J.,
July 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Accredo
Health Group Inc., the specialty pharmacy of Medco Health
Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS), has developed a unique ability to
manage the costs of treating hepatitis C (HCV), while keeping
patients adherent to a complex medication regimen for a sometimes
lethal disease that can lead to liver cirrhosis and certain
cancers. The introduction of two new HCV medications that
hold tremendous promise but also add even a greater degree of
complexity to treatment will require this "high touch" approach to
help increase patient adherence.
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Patients must be at least 80-85 percent adherent to therapy for
the HCV treatment to be effective, and Accredo has results
demonstrating that patients who receive therapy from Accredo's
nurses and specialist pharmacists are nearly 10 percent more
adherent than those who get their therapy from another provider.
Accredo has also been successful in using genotype
information to identify patients who may need only 24 weeks of
therapy, resulting in drug cost savings up to $13,000.
Accredo's high-touch care model helps educate patients about
their treatment and the necessity to adhere to it. This
includes patient instruction about using their medications,
communicating with doctors about treatment programs and assisting
patients to manage side effects. This, in turn, helps to
improve patient outcomes and reduce costly hospitalizations or the
wastage of expensive medications that are not being properly
taken.
As Accredo has improved care for HCV patients, boceprevir and
teleprevir will likely improve patients' odds for beating the
condition that affects 3.2 million Americans, sparing thousands of
patients from liver failure, potential transplants or cancer.
"These new drugs will likely be game-changers for HCV patients,
but patients are going to need help adhering to treatment," said
Richard Faris, vice president and
national practice leader for Medco's Rare and
SpecialtyTherapeuticsResourceCenter. "Medco's enhanced
clinical oversight and expertise in gene-based medicine enables us
to help patients get the right treatment and stay on therapy."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the
medications in May to supplement treatments of pegylated interferon
and ribavirin in patients with HCV genotype 1, the most common type
of the virus. The new treatments improve efficacy to
approximately 75 percent from 50 percent when pegylated interferon
and ribavirin, the standard of care for HCV since 2001, are used
together for 48 weeks. At the same time, the new drugs can
shorten the duration of treatment to 24 weeks in most patients.
Despite being oral drugs, the new treatments that prevent HCV
from replicating add a layer of complexity to an already complex
treatment program.
The Accredo Model
The Hepatitis C Therapeutic Resource Center at Accredo has been
successful in helping patients, physicians and payers with this
difficult therapeutic regimen. Accredo's approach is to
maximize clinical effectiveness for patients and benefits plan
sponsors by reducing the potential for waste. Failure to
properly monitor the therapy, genotype and viral load can cost up
to $64,000 in unnecessary drug costs
for treating an HCV patient. Pegylated interferons are dosed
in precise increments based on a patient's weight.
Patient adherence to these therapies is crucial to achieving a
successful course of therapy, but made difficult given their
significant side effects and intensive drug regimen.
Accredo's Hepatitis C Therapeutic Resource Center services
include patient training, preventing drug waste, coordination of
care, genetic screening, and patient monitoring and counseling to
overcome barriers to treatment adherence.
Hepatitis C and its costs
HCV – and subsequent liver cirrhosis – is the leading cause of
liver transplant and it is estimated that 30 percent of the 17,000
people on the liver transplant list are infected with HCV.
The initial cost for a liver transplant is $315,000 with follow-up care costing $22,000 annually. HCV is also a leading
cause of liver cancer. HCV patients also can have significant
co-morbidities that require complex care from specialty pharmacy.
For example, in the United
States up to 8 percent of those with chronic HCV may be HIV
co-infected. Overall, an estimated 6,200 persons with
bleeding disorders are affected by HCV, representing 44 percent of
all persons with hemophilia and 5 percent of all persons with von
Willebrand disease. Persons above the age of 21 have the
highest rates of infection, since they were most likely to get
human blood products as treatment.
About Medco
Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS) is pioneering the
world's most advanced pharmacy® and its clinical research and
innovations are part of Medco making medicine smarter™ for
more than 65 million members.
With more than 24,000 employees worldwide dedicated to improving
patient health and reducing costs for a wide range of public and
private sector clients, and 2010 revenues of $66 billion, Medco ranks 34th on the 2011
Fortune 500 list and is named among the world's most
innovative, most admired and most trustworthy
companies. Accredo Health Group, Inc., is a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Medco.
For more information, go to http://www.medcohealth.com.
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" as that
term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that may
cause results to differ materially from those set forth in the
statements. No forward-looking statement can be guaranteed, and
actual results may differ materially from those projected. We
undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts, but
rather are based on current expectations, estimates, assumptions
and projections about the business and future financial results of
the pharmacy benefit management ("PBM") and specialty pharmacy
industries, and other legal, regulatory and economic developments.
SOURCE Medco Health Solutions, Inc.