Endocrine Abstracts

Omnitrope is a biosimilar growth hormone (GH) preparation with a lower acquisition cost than other GH preparations. We switched adult patients with growth hormone deficiency treated with Genotropin (n=14, age 59.2±13.7 [mean±SD] yrs, 8 male) to Omnitrope at an equivalent dose. There followed titration visits every month for 3 months then visits every 3 months until 9 months. GH dose (0.5±0.0 vs 0.5±0.0 mg [mean±SD], P=NS), IGF-1 (37.6±16.7 vs 38.3±15.9 nmol/l, P=NS) and AGHDA score (13.8±6.5 vs 11.9±6.3, P=NS) were not different on Genotropin vs Omnitrope. Fat mass (46.1±4.5 vs 45.7±3.9 kg, P=NS), fat-free mass (35.5±5.0 vs 34.3±4.5 kg, P=NS), body weight (89.6±20.8 vs 89.6±21.7 kg, P=NS), waist circumference (106.1±17.4 vs 106.4±17.0 cm, P=NS) and systolic BP (133.1±12.4 vs 130.4±8.0, P=NS) did not differ at baseline and endpoint. Diastolic BP was significantly lower at 6 months vs baseline (81.4±7.1 vs 88.1±6.9, P=0.016). The most common adverse effect was headache, which did not differ in reporting frequency at baseline and endpoint (4 vs 6 patients). There were no changes in other adverse effect reporting through the study, and no injection site problems were reported. The annualized GH acquisition cost was £3800/ patient for Omnitrope compared to £5077 for Genotropin. In a small population of adults with GHD a switch from Genotropin to Omnitrope was associated with an annual reduction in GH prescribing cost of £1277 without effect on clinical or biochemical markers of growth hormone deficiency.

Declaration of interest: There is no conflict of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research reported.

Funding: No specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sector.