BIOGEN’S TECFIDERA AND OTHER ORALS BENEFIT AS INCREASINGLY RISK-TOLERANT NEUROLOGISTS SEEK TO ARREST MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS) PROGRESSION SOONER
According to business intelligence firm, Spherix Global Insights, GmbH while platform injectables will maintain a majority patient share for MS in the short term, erosion will continue as neurologists seek to arrest disease progression sooner with more aggressive treatment.
August 13, 2015 – Zug, Switzerland – Feedback gathered from 97 neurologists in June reveals that growing comfort with oral disease-modifying agents (DMAs) as well as multiple years of patient experience is driving neurologists to leave the injectables behind. While experience benefits oral agents moving forward in the treatment armamentarium, it is not the same story for established products such as Biogen’s infused agent, Tysabri, which remains relegated further back in the treatment journey.
Andrew Deslaurier, Franchise Head covering Neurology, states that “the MS market is highly dynamic with more than ten DMAs currently available and increased switching between the DMA brands. In addition, evolving attitudes around “safety” concerns and heavy promotion aimed at clinicians and patients has made the competitive environment increasingly complex.”
Other key insights from the research
While oral therapies such as Biogen’s Tecfidera and Novartis’ Gilenya are now being used in newly diagnosed and first switch patients, the fate of new non-oral agents has been mixed. Biogen’s Plegridy, is the only platform injectable to demonstrate a favorable growth rate in our survey, gaining new patients from predecessor Avonex as well as other brands. By contrast, Lemtrada, Genzyme’s infused agent, has been left to fight it out with established brands with their own strong disability story. Lemtrada’s challenging safety story along with anecdotal reports of difficulty with logistics has hampered uptake of the drug.
About Spherix Global Insights
Spherix Global Insights is a newly established business intelligence and market research company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland with US offices in Cambridge, MA. Our aim is to apply our commercial experience and unique relationships within core specialty markets to translate data into insight, enabling our clients to make smarter business decisions.
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