(1307) Evaluation of Medication Persistence for Patients Receiving Growth Hormone Medications During a Period of Supplier Disruption from a Health-system Specialty Pharmacy

Objectives: The primary objective of this study is to determine the persistence for patients receiving Norditropin from Johns Hopkins Specialty Pharmacy during a period of supplier disruption. Secondary objectives include (1) calculate the average gap in Norditropin therapy during supplier disruption, (2) determine the number of patients requiring a medication change from Norditropin during supplier disruption, and (3) discover the number of patients discontinuing growth hormone therapy due to this disruption.

Growth hormone (GH) is a natural hormone that stimulates growth in children, aids in body composition for adults, and involved in the metabolism in children and adults. Patients who have growth hormone deficiency (GHD) are often supplemented with somatropin, a recombinant GH medication. There are currently no generic options available. The Johns Hopkins Specialty Pharmacy has serviced patients taking somatropin since 2014. In November 2022, the most dispensed brand from the pharmacy, Norditropin, went on manufacturer backorder and is expected to last until the end of 2023. Due to this shortage, patients had to pause therapy until more Norditropin came in stock, switch to a different brand of somatropin, or discontinue GH therapy altogether. This resulted in a delay in care for patients and additional workflow activities for the specialty pharmacy. Medication shortage is an issue in healthcare that significantly impacts patient care. While some studies shed light to the negative patient outcomes such as increased out-of-pocket costs and decreased quality of life, more research needs to be done to identify problems during a shortage to prevent those outcomes. This study aims to determine persistence during a period of supplier disruption and identify any changes to a patient’s treatment plan that resulted.

Methods: A single-center, retrospective observational study will be conducted for all patients with an active Norditropin prescription filled at the Johns Hopkins Specialty Pharmacy between November 1st, 2022, to October 31st, 2023. Subjects will be evaluated on persistence, defined as having continuous fills of Norditropin without a non-permissible gap of > 45 days between prescription or refill days covered. Out of the subjects who are identified as non-persistent, the average gap in therapy in days will be calculated. Subjects will also be identified if there was a discontinuation or change in somatropin therapy due to the Norditropin shortage. Data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics.

Results: N/A

Conclusions: N/A