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Barriers to the Access and Use of Rituximab in Patients with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Physician Survey

Biologics such as rituximab are an important component of oncology treatment strategies, although access to such therapies is challenging in countries with limited resources. This study examined access to rituximab and identified potential barriers to its use in the United States, Mexico, Turkey, Ru...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Baer, William H., Maini, Archana, Jacobs, Ira
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2014
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4035768/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24810947
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ph7050530
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author Baer, William H.
Maini, Archana
Jacobs, Ira
author_facet Baer, William H.
Maini, Archana
Jacobs, Ira
author_sort Baer, William H.
collection PubMed
description Biologics such as rituximab are an important component of oncology treatment strategies, although access to such therapies is challenging in countries with limited resources. This study examined access to rituximab and identified potential barriers to its use in the United States, Mexico, Turkey, Russia, and Brazil. The study also examined whether availability of a biosimilar to rituximab would improve access to, and use of, rituximab. Overall, 450 hematologists and oncologists completed a survey examining their use of rituximab in patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Less than 40% of physicians considered rituximab as easy to access from a cost perspective. Furthermore, many physicians chose not to treat, were unable to treat, or had to modify treatment with rituximab despite guidelines recommending its use in NHL and CLL patients. Insurance coverage, reimbursement, and cost to patient were commonly reported as barriers to the use of rituximab. Across all markets, over half of physicians reported that they would increase use of rituximab if a biosimilar was available. We conclude that rituximab use would increase across all therapy types and markets if a biosimilar was available, although a biosimilar would have the greatest impact in Brazil, Mexico, and Russia.
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spelling pubmed-40357682014-05-28 Barriers to the Access and Use of Rituximab in Patients with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Physician Survey Baer, William H. Maini, Archana Jacobs, Ira Pharmaceuticals (Basel) Article Biologics such as rituximab are an important component of oncology treatment strategies, although access to such therapies is challenging in countries with limited resources. This study examined access to rituximab and identified potential barriers to its use in the United States, Mexico, Turkey, Russia, and Brazil. The study also examined whether availability of a biosimilar to rituximab would improve access to, and use of, rituximab. Overall, 450 hematologists and oncologists completed a survey examining their use of rituximab in patients with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Less than 40% of physicians considered rituximab as easy to access from a cost perspective. Furthermore, many physicians chose not to treat, were unable to treat, or had to modify treatment with rituximab despite guidelines recommending its use in NHL and CLL patients. Insurance coverage, reimbursement, and cost to patient were commonly reported as barriers to the use of rituximab. Across all markets, over half of physicians reported that they would increase use of rituximab if a biosimilar was available. We conclude that rituximab use would increase across all therapy types and markets if a biosimilar was available, although a biosimilar would have the greatest impact in Brazil, Mexico, and Russia. MDPI 2014-05-07 /pmc/articles/PMC4035768/ /pubmed/24810947 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ph7050530 Text en © 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Baer, William H.
Maini, Archana
Jacobs, Ira
Barriers to the Access and Use of Rituximab in Patients with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Physician Survey
title Barriers to the Access and Use of Rituximab in Patients with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Physician Survey
title_full Barriers to the Access and Use of Rituximab in Patients with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Physician Survey
title_fullStr Barriers to the Access and Use of Rituximab in Patients with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Physician Survey
title_full_unstemmed Barriers to the Access and Use of Rituximab in Patients with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Physician Survey
title_short Barriers to the Access and Use of Rituximab in Patients with Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: A Physician Survey
title_sort barriers to the access and use of rituximab in patients with non-hodgkin’s lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia: a physician survey
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4035768/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24810947
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ph7050530
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