AbbVie may have been second to the preventive migraine market after Biohaven’s Nurtec ODT, but the Big Pharma is getting prescribers onside.
That’s according to a new report and analysis from Spherix, which found that Qulipta—approved last September—is already racing to catch up with Nurtec, which gained its second approval in May 2021 as a preventive treatment for patients with episodic migraine.
The Spherix report, based on a survey of 86 neurologists and migraine specialists, found that three months post-launch, Qulipta's share is one-third that of Nurtec ODT, with two out of five doctors actively prescribing the AbbVie brand.
And while current uptake metrics lag those of Biohaven’s first-to-market Nurtec ODT, physicians are “optimistic about future use patterns,” the report notes.
Within the next three months, more than two-thirds of doctors—including current and anticipated users—expect to be Qulipta prescribers.
And six months from now, Qulipta is “projected to be close to its competitor” for both reported share and prescriber base in the prevention segment.
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“I've only had a few patients on Qulipta,” said one neurologist interviewed by the firm. “I'd say 50% or more reduced [headaches] for most of them. So far the feedback has been good and has no side effects.”
The report also found that most physicians “have learned more about Qulipta since launch,” with sales rep meetings and physicians' own research being the top sources of that new information.
AbbVie has three migraine drugs on the market: Ubrelvy to treat acute attacks and Qulipta to prevent them, as well as Botox, also FDA approved to prevent migraines (and from its Allergan buyout). The Big Pharma sees blockbuster sales from each of the newer drugs at peak; Ubrelvy brought in $552 million in 2021, $183 million of that in the fourth quarter. It did not share numbers for Qulipta with its year-end earnings report, given the drug only launched in the past few months.
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On its recent full-year financial call with analysts, chief commercial officer Jeff Stewart was bullish on Qulipta’s launch ramp, and what the company is seeing appears broadly in line with Spherix’s analysis.
“The launch is going extremely well,” Stewart said in the call. “When considering both paid and bridge volume, Qulipta is already capturing nearly 20% of the new-to-brand share in the preventive CGRP class. Roughly three months post launch, this is an incredible accomplishment.”
The company is guiding $200 million in sales for the year, with commercial access “increasing rapidly in the first half.”
The pharma is also looking to broaden Qulipta's label to include not just preventing acute attacks of migraine, but chronic migraine, too.
Two-thirds of physicians “agree that data supporting the efficacy of Qulipta for the prevention of chronic migraine would greatly increase their use of the brand,” the report found, and would also “accelerate prescribing patterns” for docs, Spherix found.
Nurtec has an advantage in terms of marketing as the one drug is FDA-approved to both treat and prevent migraines. Biohaven has pre-announced its fourth-quarter sales for Nurtec as $190 million, a 40% increase from the third quarter.
AbbVie and Biohaven, quickly becoming a David and Goliath event, are battling hard in the migraine marketing wars, with both nabbing high-end celebs as spokespeople—Serena Williams for AbbVie and Khloe Kardashian and Whoopi Goldberg for Biohaven—with Biohaven also using a literal marketing vehicle in its NASCAR and IndyCar race teams.
They both also compete in an increasingly tight migraine market, with Eli Lilly and its Emgality and Reyvow, Amgen’s Aimovig and Teva’s Ajovy all competing for space for a condition that affects around 40 million people in the U.S.