• Sheenu Chandwani, Chuck Wentworth, Thomas A Burke, and Thomas F Patterson.
• Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA. sheenu_chandwani@merck.com
• Curr Med Res Opin. 2009 Feb 1; 25 (2): 385-93.

ObjectiveWith the availability of multiple echinocandins in the US, recommended dosages and dosing schedules vary by agent but actual utilization practices are unknown. The purpose of this study was to describe the utilization and dosage pattern of intravenous echinocandins for treatment of fungal infections in US hospitals.MethodsThe Premier Perspective Database was used to describe echinocandin use in 332 US hospitals. Adult patients hospitalized from January, 2006 through June, 2007 with at least one billing record for anidulafungin (Eraxis ** ), caspofungin (Cancidas dagger ), or micafungin (Mycamine double dagger ) were included. Hospitalizations with > 1 echinocandin or >or= 1 dosage with an FDA approved indication for fungal prophylaxis were excluded. Mixed multivariable models were developed to identify factors associated with mean daily dose. ** Eraxis, a registered trade name owned by Pfizer, Inc., New York, NY, USA dagger Cancidas, a registered trade name owned by Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA double dagger Mycamine, a registered trade name owned by Astellas Pharma US, Inc., Deerfield, IL, USA.ResultsThe number of unique patient hospitalizations was 708 for anidulafungin, 15 739 for caspofungin, and 1199 for micafungin. A single echinocandin was utilized at 88.6% of hospitals. Micafungin patients had the highest prevalence of cancer, bone marrow transplant, solid organ transplant, HIV/AIDS, fungal infection, and neutropenia. Mean day 1 dose of echinocandin therapy was 171.2 +/- 85.4 mg, 79.7 +/- 25.6 mg, and 154.3 +/- 67.3 mg; and mean day 2 onwards dose was 98.7 +/- 39.4 mg, 53.1 +/- 12.5 mg, 122.6 +/- 39.4 mg for anidulafungin, caspofungin and micafungin, respectively. Commonly used loading doses were 200 mg (55.6%) for anidulafungin, 70 mg (57.2%) for caspofungin, and 200 mg (21.2%) for micafungin. The first-day dose of echinocandin therapy (vs. subsequent days) was most strongly associated with mean daily dose.ConclusionsIn hospital practice, the mean dosages were consistent with the recommended loading and maintenance dosages for caspofungin and anidulafungin. Patients frequently received a loading dose of > 150 mg on day 1 of micafungin which was inconsistent with recommended dosing schedules. Micafungin maintenance dosages > 100 mg were also commonly used. Lack of information on reason for initiating echinocandin therapy was an important study limitation.

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