Neonatal outcomes following new reimbursement limitations on palivizumab in Italy

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of new reimbursement decisions for palivizumab treatment on respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) hospitalisations and the concomitant number of palivizumab prescriptions for infants aged <2 years.DesignWe compared the RSV hospitalisation rates in infants before and after implementation of new limitations during three RSV seasons 2014–2017.SettingPopulation aged <2 years at the beginning of each RSV seasons extracted from regional health systems (Lazio region, 2016, 5 898 124 inhabitants and 47 595 births).PatientsOut of 70 323 infants, 5895 (8.4%) premature babies (gestational age (GA) <37 weeks) were followed before-after Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA)-2016 limitations.InterventionIn 2016, AIFA, following the American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines, decided to limit coverage of palivizumab prophylaxis (GA ≤29 weeks).Main outcomes measuresTrend of hospitalisations by months and rate of RSV before-after new restrictions were analysed. Palivizumab prescriptions and costs for National Health Service (NHS) were considered.ResultsIn a population of 284 902 aged <2 years, the number of hospitalisations due to RSV infection was 1729. Following AIFA-2016 limitations, a reduction in the number of RSV infection-based hospitalisations from 6.3/1000 (95% CI 6.0 to 6.7) to 5.5/1000 (95% CI 5.0 to 5.9) was observed. Palivizumab showed a concomitant reduction of 48% in the number of prescriptions (saving €750 000 for the NHS). No differences of GA, age on admission or severity of RSV infection were observed.ConclusionsImplementation of the new palivizumab reimbursement criteria was not associated with an increase in the RSV hospitalisation rate for children aged <2 years despite a significant reduction in the number of palivizumab prescriptions.