Background The high cost of multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment justifies conducting financial analyses to reveal which therapeutic alternatives are more cost effective. From the Clinical Management Unit (CMU) of Pharmacy from Granada (Spain), we looked for various tools to reduce the impact of these drugs on the annual budget without affecting the health of the individual.

Purpose To analyse the cost of treatment with fingolimod in patients attending CMU Pharmacy Granada.

Material and methods Patients receiving drugs for the treatment of MS, dispensed from the CMU Pharmacy Services, were established as the study population. A time horizon of 5 years was chosen (2013–2017) and two scenarios: stage 1, with the standard treatment for MS, and stage 2, with the introduction of fingolimod as second line monotherapy. Only direct healthcare costs: drugs, administration and management of the disease were considered.

Results The average cost of treating patients, considering stage 1, involves an investment of €581,418 annually, with an average cost per patient per year of €12,872. The introduction of fingolimod as the only treatment option for second-line carries an average annual cost of €7,517,054 euros (average cost per patient per year of €12.762). Therefore, the second line treatment of MS based solely on fingolimod means less spending. In the second scenario, there are cost savings: €64,364. What differentiates the two situations are the costs of administration and disease management. On the one hand, the use of fingolimod, being an oral drug, eliminates the day hospital costs. However, it increases spending on disease management: cardiac and ophthalmic monitoring.

Conclusion The introduction of fingolimod does not have a significant budget impact since it involves an expenditure increase of 13% over the next five years. These results are similar to those published in previous relevant studies.

References and/or acknowledgements No conflict of interest.