Disease Modifying Therapies for Multiple Sclerosis Continue to Drive Up Healthcare Cost

The development of reliable curative therapies for multiple sclerosis could significantly reduce the economic burden of the disease on patients and wider society.

The prices of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients have risen dramatically since 2020 in the US. This puts a financial strain on patients, their families, and the healthcare system, reveals the leading data and analytics company GlobalData.

MS is a primary autoimmune disease leading to neurological disability and affects sensory, visual, motor, and autonomic systems. Currently, most patients face the prospect of lifelong treatment.

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‘New report released by leading data and analytics company shows that the average annual cost of disease-modifying therapy for multiple sclerosis increased by 9% since 2020.’

Specialty drugs referred to as disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) have become the standard for multiple sclerosis treatment since the 1990s as they have been shown to reduce the risk of relapses and delay disease progression ().

Addressing the Rising Prices of Disease-Modifying Therapies for Multiple Sclerosis

While more DMTs became available, prices of DMTs including existing drugs continue to rise and remain very expensive. However, they cannot provide a cure and offer very limited impact on halting disease progression.

Experts emphasized that the high cost of DMTs for MS can have a major impact on patients, their families, and wider society. This economic burden may deter some patients from seeking treatment, while others might decide to stop their treatment altogether.

Over a lifetime, the cumulative costs of MS can exceed $5.6 million [2020 United States (US) dollars] in both direct and indirect costs. In addition to costs related to loss of productivity, the direct healthcare costs of MS are also substantial making it the second most expensive chronic condition behind heart failure ().

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They further believe that there is a large unmet need for curative therapies in MS, especially for the agents that would be able to stop the progress of neurodegeneration, such as remyelination therapies, of which there are several in early-stage development.

While they are generally optimistic about the prospects of curative therapies gaining approval in the long term, they acknowledge that the route to this is long, and do not expect curative therapies to enter the market within the next few years.

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Notably, none of the late-stage agents in development are curative therapies, and their main role is to reduce disease progression and the number of relapses experienced by patients.

High and rising costs for MS DMTs are a major concern for neurologists, patients, and society. Although DMTs can be life-changing for patients with MS, the costs of these drugs continue to escalate at rates well beyond inflation, and affordably is a major challenge.

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To overcome these challenges, reliable curative therapies should be developed and approved. This would be a major breaking point in the treatment of MS. This not only reduces the economic burden but also raises the living standard of patients.

References:

Health economics of disease-modifying therapy for multiple sclerosis in the United States - (https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1756286420987031)
Disease modifying therapies continue to drive up health care cost among individuals with multiple sclerosis - (https://www.msard-journal.com/article/S2211-0348(19)30062-8/fulltext)

Source-Medindia