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Published Online, 30 November 2004, www.theannals.com, DOI 10.1345/aph.1E236.
 The Annals of Pharmacotherapy: Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 177-182. DOI 10.1345/aph.1E236
© 2005 Harvey Whitney Books Company.
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The Impact of New Drug Introduction on Drug Expenditure in Primary Health Care in Catalunya, Spain

Corinne Zara, PhD

Chief Pharmacist, Planning and Evaluation Directorate, Barcelona Healthcare Consortium, Catalan Health Service, Barcelona, Spain

Miguel Torralba, PhD

Pharmacist, Division of Pharmaceutical Monitoring, Catalan Health Service

José M Sotoca, PhD

Chief Pharmacist, Les Corts Primary Health Care Centre, Barcelona

Alba Prat, PhD

Pharmacist, Division of Pharmaceutical Monitoring, Catalan Health Service

María-Teresa Faixedas, MD

Chief Epidemiologist, Girona Region, Catalan Health Service, Girona, Spain

Antoni Gilabert, PhD

Director, Division of Pharmaceutical Monitoring, Catalan Health Service

Reprints: Dr. Zara, Direcció de Planificació i Avaluació, Consorci Sanitari de Barcelona, Esteve Terrades 30, 08023 Barcelona, Spain, fax 34 93 2594101, czara{at}rsbcn.scs.es

BACKGROUND: Introduction of new drugs is a dynamic process with a high impact on consumption and expenditure.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prescription of new drugs and the associated costs in public health care in Catalunya, Spain, in 2002. The analysis also attempts a perspective of consumption in relation to the grade of therapeutic innovation of the new drugs.

METHODS: Prescription data on all 86 new drugs licensed for use during 1998–2002 were analyzed, using the prescription item as unit and the cost.

RESULTS: Prescription for new drugs in 2002 represented 4% of overall items prescribed and 13% of the cost. The mean new drug item cost was {euro}39, while that of overall drugs was {euro}13. New drug item increase over the previous year was 18.6% compared with 5.2% of the overall drugs, and the proportional cost increased by 25.7% and 9.9%, respectively. Ten new drugs represented 55.1% of the expenditure of this group. Antiasthmatic drugs represented 20.7% of the expenditure on new drugs, angiotensin-receptor blockers represented 18.6%, antiaggregants 9.7%, and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs 6.9%. New drugs providing significant or modest therapeutic improvement represented 25.6% of overall new drug items and 32.3% of their cost.

CONCLUSIONS: New drugs have a mean cost growth rate greater than that of existing drugs, with only a quarter of them offering advantages over existing drugs. More detailed evaluations of new medications are warranted before they can be recommended for general use so that a better distribution of the limited resources available may be made when prescribing drugs that are newly available through prescription.

Key Words: efficacy, new drugs, prescription

Published Online, November 30, 2004. www.theannals.com, DOI 10.1345/aph.1E236




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