The rapid transformation in patient perceptions of neurology drug developers continued in 2022, when the proportion of groups with positive views of the industry rose (PDF) for the third year on the bounce.
Groups representing neurology patients had a low opinion of pharma companies before the pandemic. In 2019, PatientView found 35% of neurology patient groups thought the pharma industry had at least a good corporate reputation. The turnaround began in 2020, when the figure rose to 46%, and has kept going ever since.
In the latest survey, which was run from November 2022 to February 2023, 60% of neurology patient groups told PatientView that the pharma industry has a good or excellent reputation. The figure is up on both the previous high hit in 2021, 53%, and the low point the industry slumped to just a few years ago.
The latest survey reveals room for further improvements. As PatientView has seen in other therapeutic areas, neurology patients are fans of the industry’s ability to deliver beneficial products and innovation, with, respectively, 62% and 57% of respondents ranking the industry as at least good in those areas, but are critical of its work in other areas.
Pricing, a recurring point of contention in the surveys, came under attack from the neurology patient groups. The latest survey also revealed complaints about the sharing of clinical data and engagement of patients in R&D, which were rated as good or excellent by 27% and 21% of groups, respectively.
PatientView also revealed the companies with the best reputations. Roche held on to the top spot on the list of companies that the patient groups are familiar with, and the list of companies they’ve worked with, but there were changes behind it. UCB and Lundbeck kicked Novartis and Biogen out of the top three of the familiar list. Horizon Therapeutics and Takeda replaced Novartis and Pfizer on the other list.
The neurology ranking completes a good run for Horizon in its final year as a standalone company. Earlier this year, Horizon topped the list of the most reputable pharma companies in the U.S. and took the title of most reputable orphan drug developer. Only Roche, another recurring name at the top of the various leaderboards, stopped Horizon from adding a No. 1 in neurology trophy to its mantelpiece.
That mantelpiece is now owned by Amgen, a company that is less frequently seen in the upper echelons of the PatientView lists. One of the many questions raised by Amgen’s $27.8 billion takeover of Horizon is whether the teams behind acquired products such as Tepezza can retain their standing with patients.