Xtampza ER reduces admissions, health care costs compared with other prescription opioids

Key takeaways:

• The estimated cost of hospital admissions involving Xtampza ER was $3,623, the lowest among all medications examined.
• Such reductions could potentially save millions in health care costs, a researcher said.

An abuse-deterrent formulation of oxycodone resulted in decreased hospital admissions and health care costs, a study presented at PAINWeek found.

“Many studies have demonstrated the value of prescription opioid medications with abuse-deterrent properties in addressing opioid abuse/misuse, yet the majority of prescription opioids continue to be easy-to-crush opioids, which we know come with the highest risk of nonoral use,” Jody L. Green, PhD, FACCT, chief scientific officer at Uprise Health, told Healio. “Most reasons cited are the costs of the medications.”

Green and colleagues’ research “sought to put real dollars to lower rates of opioid abuse associated with different opioid medications,” she said.

The researchers used data from the National Poison Data System and the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project to examine rates and costs associated with intentional misuse or abuse of four opioid medications — abuse-deterrent formulation (ADF) Xtampza ER (oxycodone; Collegium), other ER oxycodone, other ER opioids for analgesia and IR oxycodone.

The rate of intentional misuse or abuse cases resulting in hospital admissions per 100,000 U.S. population from Jan. 1, 2019, through Dec. 31, 2022, was:

• 0.17 (95% CI, 0.02-0.33) for Xtampza ER;
• 7.1 (95% CI, 6.13-8.08), with an RR of 40.6 (95% CI, 16.7-98.6), for other ER oxycodone;
• 3.53 (95% CI, 2.85-4.22), with an RR of 20.2 (95% CI 8.2-49.6), for other ER opioids for analgesia; and
• 55.65 (95% CI, 52.91-58.38), with an RR of 318 (95% CI 132.2-765.1), for IR oxycodone.

The extrapolated estimated costs of hospital admissions involving intentional misuse or abuse was:

• $3,623 (95% CI, $3,409-$3,837) for Xtampza ER;
• $147,107 (95% CI, $138,425-$155,789) for other ER oxycodone;
• $73,191 (95% CI, $68,871-$77,511) for other ER opioids for analgesia; and
• $1,152,219 (95% CI, $1,084,219-$1,220,219) for IR oxycodone.

Green said she was impressed by the differences in costs between the groups, pointing out that lower hospital admissions and ED visits associated with Xtampza ER equated “to potentially millions of dollars in health care savings.”

“Improving public health while saving health care dollars is tough to do,” she said.

Green said that providing appropriate prescription opioid pain therapy while decreasing the risk or opioid misuse or abuse “is possible through good patient/provider communication and use of ADF medications.”

Additionally, “while prescription opioid medications play an important part in pain therapy, not all medications are created equal, and we should arm providers with information critical to their everyday practice,” she added.

As for future research, “we must continue to monitor real-world evidence on prescription opioid prescribing patterns and the utilization of ADF medications,” Green said. “As these products are used more, will we continue to see the positive impacts to public health, clinical outcomes, and health care costs?”