Pharmacoeconomic considerations for inflammatory bowel disease in the era of biological therapies

The biological therapies have revolutionized the ability to treat patients with inflammatory bowel disease. While these therapies have proven efficacy, they are not without significant medication expense. This has raised the question of whether society can afford these new therapies. Costs associated with inflammatory bowel disease have focused traditionally on direct costs of disease, with the greatest contributions due to surgeries and hospitalization. Initial investigations suggest that biologics can reduce healthcare utilization and their associated costs. Additionally, the importance of indirect costs and improvements in quality of life must also be considered when examining the cost efficiency of these new therapeutic modalities, which may result in a cost savings for our healthcare system.