Patients who delay refilling their prescription for subcutaneous biologics for >2 days every 2 weeks are more likely to experience a flare-up of their inflammatory bowel disease, according to a medical claims analysis. Highlights include:

• Because non-adherence increases the formation of anti-drug antibodies, it is important for clinicians to know what degree of non-adherence will seriously impede the course of treatment.
• Researchers analyzed claims data for patients with inflammatory bowel disease who were taking adalimumab and certolizumab from 2009 to 2013.
• Medication possession ratio (MPR) was used as a measure of patients’ adherence to drug therapy.
• The records indicated that 6,048 patients had received either of the 2 biologic agents.
• The optimal MPR was 0.86 and 0.87 for adalimumab and certolizumab, respectively.
• Patients above the MPR thresholds were 25% less likely to experience a flare on adalimumab and 41% less likely to flare up on certolizumab.