An Institutional Guide for Formulary Decisions of Biosimilars.

Biologics have changed the landscape for the management of many debilitating chronic diseases but account for a significant expenditure of medications globally. Fortunately, advances in technology paved the way for the introduction of biosimilars, which are highly similar to the originator biologics. In the quest to reduce the budget impact of biologics, organizations have begun to adopt biosimilars.

Digital Biomarker-Based Interventions: Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews.

Background: The introduction of new medical technologies such as sensors has accelerated the process of collecting patient data for relevant clinical decisions, which has led to the introduction of a new technology known as digital biomarkers.

Objective: This study aims to assess the methodological quality and quality of evidence from meta-analyses of digital biomarker-based interventions.

Methods: This study follows the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guideline for reporting systematic reviews, including original English publications of systematic reviews reporting meta-analyses of clinical outcomes (efficacy and safety endpoints) of digital biomarker-based interventions compared with alternative interventions without digital biomarkers.

Humanistic and Economic Burden of Atopic Dermatitis for Adults and Adolescents in the Middle East and Africa Region.

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic skin disease that poses a significant burden on both patients and the society. AD causes the highest loss in disability-adjusted life years compared with other skin diseases. This study aimed to estimate the economic and humanistic burden of AD in adults and adolescents in seven countries in the Middle East and Africa region (Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Algeria, South Africa, and United Arab Emirates).

The humanistic and economic burden of atopic dermatitis among adults and adolescents in Saudi Arabia.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic skin disease that creates a significant burden to patients and society. There is scarcity in local data about the burden of AD in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). We aimed to fill in this gap and quantify the humanistic and economic burden of AD among adults and adolescents in KSA.

Real-World Impact of Switching From Insulin Glargine (Lantus) to Basaglar and Potential Cost Saving in a Large Public Healthcare System in Saudi Arabia.

Background: The advent of Basaglar, which is a biosimilar insulin glargine formulation for Lantus has brought hope that it will result in similar outcomes and lower costs. However, some health practitioners raised some concerns about the therapeutic equivalence of this new biosimilar. Therefore, we aimed to examine the clinical and financial impact of switching from Lantus to Basaglar.

Disease-Related Costs Published in The Middle East and North Africa Region: Systematic Review and Analysis of Transferability.

Background: In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) the scarcity of local cost data is a key barrier to conducting health economic evaluations. We systematically reviewed reports of disease-related costs from MENA and analysed their transferability within the region.

Methods: We searched PubMed and included full text English papers that reported disease-related costs from the local populations of Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen between 1995 and 2019.

Demographic Characteristics and Status of Vaccinated Individuals with a History of COVID-19 Infection Pre- or Post-Vaccination: A Descriptive Study of a Nationally Representative Sample in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Saudi Arabia expedited the approval of some COVID-19 vaccines and launched mass vaccination campaigns. The aim of this study was to describe the demographics of vaccinated COVID-19 cases and compare the mortality rates of COVID-19 cases who were infected post-vaccination in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study.

Cost Consequence Analysis of the Management of Hyperkalemia by Patiromer and Optimization of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System Inhibitors Therapy in Chronic Kidney Disease Patients in Saudi Arabia.

Renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors (RAASi) have been shown to improve outcomes in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients but are associated with an increased risk of hyperkalemia in this vulnerable population. Hyperkalemia often leads to patients' downtitrating or discontinuing RAASi which can result in sub-optimal health outcomes. The objective is to evaluate the cost and health benefits of maintaining normokalemia using patiromer, an oral potassium binder while optimizing RAASi therapy in CKD patients in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee Preparedness Plan for COVID-19.

As the Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) committee acts as an advisory committee on therapeutic options, it is important during pandemics, such as the current Coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, to quickly search the evidence, be able to select the most appropriate therapies despite the limited evidence, and make appropriate decisions related to which drugs to procure and stock. Potential therapies and recommendations to the P&T committee at a large healthcare institution as means of a preparedness plan are reviewed here.