薬理と治療

Abstract

Background Once-a-Week-Avonex Syringe(30 μg Interferon beta-1a Intramuscular)was approved in Japan in November 2006 for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis. To further improve convenience of the injection procedure, an autoinjector with a built-in prefilled syringe(Avonex Pen)was developed. Objective To evaluate the relative convenience of these two administration methods. Methods The 31 evaluators(10 pharmacists, 11 nurses, and 10 clerks)prepared the drug administration using Avonex Syringe and Avonex Pen and performed two mock injections of each product into an artificial muscle. The evaluation was made based on a 5-point scale[+2:Avonex Pen is better, +1:Avonex Pen is slightly better, 0:Both products are same, -1:Avonex Syringe is slightly better, -2:Avonex Syringe is better]in terms of various items such as convenience and ease of use during preparation of drug and administration, and comprehensive evaluation. Results Avonex Pen was rated significantly better than Avonex prefilled Syringe for most of the items surveyed(13/20 items)with the mean score +1.0 point or higher. In the comprehensive evaluation, Avonex Pen was significantly higher than Avonex prefilled Syringe (0.74±1.03, P=0.0002). Conclusions The results of this study suggest that Avonex Pen is a preferable product to Avonex Syringe. The advantage of Avonex Pen may potentially support self-injection in terms of convenience and ease of use during drug administration. Therefore, Avonex Pen may provide clinical benefits such as improvement of compliance and persistence of Interferon beta-1a treatment for MS patients. Supported by Biogen Idec Japan Ltd.