PMID- 33846959 OWN - NLM STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE LR - 20210608 IS - 2193-8253 (Print) IS - 2193-6536 (Electronic) IS - 2193-6536 (Linking) VI - 10 IP - 1 DP - 2021 Jun TI - Multiple Sclerosis Patients Treated With Diroximel Fumarate in the Real-World Setting Have High Rates of Persistence and Adherence. PG - 349-360 LID - 10.1007/s40120-021-00242-7 [doi] AB - INTRODUCTION: Persistence to multiple sclerosis (MS) disease-modifying therapy is fundamental for maximal treatment outcomes. Diroximel fumarate (DRF) is approved in the USA for relapsing MS. Following oral administration, DRF is metabolized to monomethyl fumarate, the active metabolite of dimethyl fumarate (DMF). DRF showed clinically significant improvements in gastrointestinal (GI) tolerability versus DMF in a head-to-head clinical trial; however, real-world persistence/adherence has not been assessed. We evaluated persistence/adherence in DRF-treated patients in a real-world clinical practice. METHODS: This retrospective analysis of the AcariaHealth Specialty Pharmacy Program included patients initiating DRF from 4 December 2019 through 3 April 2020 and followed until data extraction (31 August 2020). Exclusion criteria included undetermined treatment status (e.g., DRF prescription transfer to a different pharmacy). Endpoints included persistence (overall proportion of patients remaining on DRF), discontinuation rate due to GI adverse events (AEs), and adherence (proportion of days covered [PDC]). GI AEs included GI-related AEs occurring at any time, or any unknown AE without details about the nature of the event if the unknown AE occurred