Study finds FMT significantly reduces hospital costs for recurrent C diff
Researchers in Denmark report that the use of fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) reduced hospital costs in patients with recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI) by 42%, according to a study in Therapeutic Advances in Gastroenterology.
The single-center study, conducted at a public hospital in Denmark, included all adult patients who were referred for FMT from January 2014 through December 2015 and costs related to donor screening, laboratory processing, and clinical FMT application. The researchers calculated both the costs of FMT and the patient-related hospital costs 1 year before FMT and 1 year after FMT. Cost drivers included hospital admission days, intensive care unit (ICU) admission days, antibiotics use, outpatient visits, telephone consultations, and costs related to the FMT procedure.
Analysis of 50 consecutive adult patients with rCDI who were referred for FMT showed that the weighted average cost of an outpatient FMT procedure (applied by colonoscopy or nasojejunal tube) was €3,095 ($3,463). Total annual costs per rCDI patient dropped from €56,415 pre-FMT to €32,816 post-FMT ($63,132 to $36,723), with cost reductions driven by reductions in both the number of hospital admissions and the length of stay for each admission. The median number of days of hospital admission, including ICU days, fell 45%, from 37 days to 20 days. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated cost reductions in all scenarios.
The researchers say the study is the first to provide direct costs of FMT and to calculate derived hospital cost savings from the procedure, which has shown success in resolving rCDI in 70% to 90% of patients in observational and randomized trials.
"The introduction of new treatments is usually very expensive, but here we have a form of treatment that on top of everything also saves society millions of Euro every month. If we can establish a system that safeguards both patients and donors, then it'll be of huge benefit for everyone," lead study author Christian Lodberg Hvas, PhD, a consultant in the department of hepatology and gastroenterology at Aarhus University Hospital, said in a university press release.
Apr 10 Therap Adv Gastroenterol study
Apr 23 Aarhus University press release
Delayed antibiotics therapy tied to worse outcomes for Enterobacteriaceae
A study yesterday in Open Forum Infectious Diseases indicates that, in patients with Enterobacteriaceae infections, delayed antibiotic therapy had a stronger impact on outcomes and costs than carbapenem resistance did, though the effects of the two characteristics are synergistic.
For the study, researchers with Allergan, medical research firm Evidera, and the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences identified all admissions with evidence of a serious Enterobacteriaceae infection from a large US hospital database from July 2011 through September 2014. They were looking to determine the independent and combined impact of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and delayed appropriate antibiotic therapy—defined as receipt of an antibiotic with activity against all index pathogens more than 2 days after the index date—on clinical and economic outcomes among patients hospitalized with Enterobacteriaceae infections.
Although both factors have been associated with worse outcomes, and patients with CRE infections often receive inappropriate or delayed antibiotic therapy, few studies have attempted to simultaneously weigh the contribution of each factor. Outcomes included duration of antibiotic therapy, hospital length of stay (LOS), in-hospital costs, discharge destination, and composite mortality (in-hospital death or discharge to hospice).
Among the 50,069 patients who met all selection criteria, 514 patients (1.0%) had infections caused by CRE, and the rest had carbapenem-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae (CSE). Overall, 55.4% of CRE patients received delayed appropriate antibiotic therapy versus 32.5% of CSE patients.
Multivariate-adjusted analysis revealed that, irrespective of CRE status, delayed appropriate antibiotic therapy was associated with longer durations of antibiotic therapy and LOS, lower likelihood of discharge to home, and greater likelihood of the composite mortality outcome. The worst outcomes were observed in patients with CRE who received delayed appropriate therapy.
"Our findings have important implications for clinical practice, as they suggest that the worse outcomes typically associated with Enterobacteriaceae infection, regardless of carbapenem susceptibility status, can potentially be mitigated by timely appropriate antimicrobial therapy," the authors of the study write. They add that the findings highlight the need for rapid diagnostics for earlier detection of drug-resistant gram-negative pathogens and decision-support system tools to identify patients at high risk of infections caused by these pathogens.
Apr 23 Open Forum Infect Dis abstract
Antibiotic development collaboration involving 2 drug firms announced
San Diego-based Forge Therapeutics announced today that it has entered into a partnership with Swiss drug maker Basilea Pharmaceutica to discover, develop, and commercialize novel antibiotics.
According to a company press release, Basilea will pay Forge to access its Blacksmith chemistry platform, a drug-discovery platform that identifies small molecule inhibitors of metalloenzymes, which support a variety of biological functions in bacteria. Basilea will apply the Blacksmith platform to develop inhibitors against two well-characterized metalloenzyme targets.
"We are excited to partner with Basilea, a global leader in anti-infective research and development, to pursue novel metalloenzyme targets that have significant promise in this challenging therapeutic area," said Forge CEO Zachary A. Zimmerman, PhD. "Linking our novel chemistry with Basilea's deep drug development and commercial expertise will be a powerful combination in addressing the global threat of antibacterial resistance."
Under the collaboration, Forge is eligible to receive potential development and sales milestone payments of up $167 million per target and tiered royalties upon commercialization of each antibiotic.
Apr 24 Forge Therapeutics press release