Reduction in Vial Size of Aducanumab Could Yield Savings

MONDAY, June 27, 2022 (HealthDay News) — A reduction in vial size of aducanumab to 100 mg/1.0 mL could result in considerable savings for patients aged ≥65 years with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia, according to a research letter published online June 27 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

Noting that the manufacturer of aducanumab created two vial sizes: 170 mg/1.7 mL and 300 mg/3.0 mL, Carlos Irwin A. Oronce, M.D., M.P.H., from the University of California in Los Angeles, and colleagues used nationally representative data from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study to identify patients with MCI or mild dementia and self/proxy-reported patient weights to quantify the amount of discarded drugs and potential savings that could be generated from more efficient aducanumab vial sizes.

The researchers note that assuming a conservative 10 percent drug uptake, the equivalent of between 132,398 and 694,258 300 mg/3.0 mL vials of aducanumab would be discarded each year, at a cost of between $115.4 million and $604.9 million. Savings would range from $70.9 to $369.0 million annually if the 300 mg/3.0 mL vial was reduced to 100 mg/1.0 mL.

“Given Medicare’s premium increase in 2022 partly due to aducanumab, greater focus on efficient vial packaging could improve the value of future Medicare spending, slow premium growth, and reduce beneficiaries’ out‐of‐pocket costs,” Oronce said in a statement.

Abstract/Full Text