Pharmacoeconomic analysis of somatropin’s pharmaceutical forms

Abstract

The somatropin has been part of the Specialized Component of Pharmaceutical Assistance in Brazil since 2003, and only until 2017 the pharmaceutical forms related to 4UI and 12UI were available in the country’s Universal Healthcare System (SUS) even though two official laboratories had already made deals related to the productive development where they commercialized 16UI and 36UI’s pharmaceutical forms alongside Ministry of Health (MS) during the technology transfer process. In this study it was verified that 16UI and 12UI’s pharmaceutical forms are more economically benefic towards SUS than those of 4UI and 12UI, and if the MS would acquire in the next 10 years the 4UI and 12UI’s pharmaceutical forms it would cost 6,7 times more when compared to the acquisition of 16UI and 36UI corresponding to the total of R$ 402,1 million. Said substitution would have an impact on the number of wasted vial, considering that said waste related to the farmaceutical forms 4UI and 12UI are 6,12 times bigger in comparison to 16UI and 36UI. After the presentation of the mentioned study in the III International Symposium on Immunobiology in 2016 and after the dispatch of a technical note about the subject, the Ministry of Health has increased the number of somatropin’s pharmaceutical forms to the total of seven (4UI, 12UI, 15UI, 16UI, 18UI, 24UI and 30UI) and the acquisition criteria started focusing on which company presents the lowest UI value, avoiding waste in public resources in the Universal Healthcare System.