Abstract
Topical adapalene gel is an effective and well tolerated acne treatment that transitioned from prescription to over-the-counter (OTC) availability in 2016. Historically, prescription to OTC transitions have lowered costs to patients and payers and increased access to medications. This study used sales and prescriber data to assess access to topical retinoid therapies and their costs in the pre- and post- Rx-to-OTC transition. We demonstrate that the prescription to OTC transition of adapalene gel increased access to this medication, while lowering costs to patients and payers, including Medicare patients. These results provide a necessary call to action for future OTC shifts with other high safety profile, well-tolerated medications in ultimate efforts and hopes of cost savings for patients, insurers, and Medicare within our healthcare industry.
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Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Information Resources, Inc. at http://www.iriworldwide.com/en-us/solutions/academic-data-set, ClinCalc DrugStats Database at http://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Drugs/Adapalene, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey at http://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb, Medicare Part D Provider Utilization and Payment Data database at data.cms.gov, and Google Trends at http://trends.google.com/trends/.
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Information Resources, Inc http://www.iriworldwide.com/en-us/solutions/academic-data-set
ClinCalc DrugStats Database https://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Drugs/Adapalene
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/
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Author’s Contributions: All authors contributed to the conception of the manuscript. W.F. and S.D. wrote the main manuscript text, and S.D. prepared Figs. 1 and 2. All authors commented on the previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read, reviewed, and approved the final manuscript.
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All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest or non-financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript. The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in Information Resources, Inc. at http://www.iriworldwide.com/en-us/solutions/academic-data-set [10], ClinCalc DrugStats Database at https://clincalc.com/DrugStats/Drugs/Adapalene [11], Medical Expenditure Panel Survey at https://meps.ahrq.gov/mepsweb/ [12], Medicare Part D Provider Utilization and Payment Data database at data.cms.gov [13], and Google Trends at https://trends.google.com/trends/ [14].
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Fix, W., Desai, S., Nussbaum, D. et al. Rx -to- OTC switch increased access and lowered cost of topical adapalene. Arch Dermatol Res 316, 155 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-024-02890-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00403-024-02890-9