Sanofi has taken a deep dive into the lives of hemophilia patients, caregivers and providers. Working with The Harris Poll, the French drugmaker surveyed 2,700 people in 11 countries to understand how the rare bleeding disorder affects people and identify opportunities to address unmet needs.
Paris-based Sanofi began the survey in February, days after receiving FDA approval for its hemophilia A treatment Altuviiio. The pitch for the drug rests on evidence that it delivers normal to near-normal factor activity for most of the week when given weekly. Other factor VIII therapies are given more frequently, and Roche’s once-weekly Hemlibra has a higher annualized bleed rate, based on a cross-trial comparison.
The survey provides pointers to how Sanofi can position Altuviiio to win market share. Sanofi found the frequency that hemophilia injections and infusions are administered is a top complaint for patients and caregivers, with around 36% of respondents listing it as something they would like to see change.
Sanofi’s Altuviiio can address the demand, to an extent, if patients and providers discuss the medicine and decide to change treatments. The survey shows that almost everyone wants patients to play a more active role in treatment decisions. Most, 83%, of patients said they want a more active role, and 84% of hematologists agreed patients should play a more active role in deciding which treatments they take.
Patients are clear about what they want out of treatments, telling the pollsters that their top goals are being able to conduct daily activities without discomfort, pain or worries about experiencing a bleed. Many, 41%, of patients have avoided or stopped activities because of their condition. One-third of the polled patients have avoided traveling or canceled a trip.
The survey provides Sanofi with insights that could help it build on the early momentum of the Altuviiio launch. Talking to investors in July, Bill Sibold, executive vice president of specialty care at Sanofi, said the drug was capturing more than 70% of switches to factor therapies, leading to upward of 250 U.S. prescriptions. Ten percent of switches came from Roche’s Hemlibra.
Sanofi has high hopes for Altuviiio, identifying it and two other recently launched drugs, the RSV product Beyfortus and diabetes medicine Tzield, as assets that can collectively add at least 5 billion euros ($5.3 billion) in peak sales.