Impact of Betaconnect Auto-Injector on Patient Adherence of Betaseron Therapy

Background: Relapse-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) accounts for approximately 85% of MS diagnoses. Disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) can help limit the number of relapses and slow disease progression for RRMS and clinically isolated syndrome (CIS). Prior research has shown that adherence to DMTs is associated with fewer relapses and lower healthcare costs; however, adherence still proves to be an ongoing challenge. BETACONNECT is an electronic auto-injector designed to improve adherence with BETASERON (interferon beta-1b), a DMT utilized in RRMS and CIS.

Objectives: To assess adherence to interferon beta-1b therapy in patients who are using the BETACONNECT autoinjector.

Methods: This is an ad-hoc analysis of a prospective, observational, multicenter, single-arm trial. The final poster will include results from the interim analysis for all patients with evaluable 6-week data.  Results will include adherence, persistence and compliance, as well as patient satisfaction with the BETACONNECT device. The study included patients aged 18 or older with RRMS or CIS who were naïve to or currently taking interferon beta-1b at the time of enrollment. The ad-hoc analysis included injection history data collected over 6 weeks directly from the BETACONNECT device. Adherence was defined as the number of injections over the expected number of injections during the 6-week analysis period. Descriptive analytics were performed using SAS version 9.2 (Cary, NC).

Results: A total of 89 patients were included in the analysis. Of these, 77 were currently on interferon beta-1b and 12 patients were interferon beta-1b-naïve. Mean age of patients was 52 years, with a majority aged 45 or older (77.5%), and female (76.4%). Among all patients, the mean adherence rate was 97.6% (SD: 9.0%); 95.5% of patients reached at least 80% adherence.

Conclusions: BETACONNECT is designed to improve adherence of interferon beta-1b therapy in patients with MS. Results of this study suggest patients demonstrate high levels of adherence when using the BETACONNECT device.