Continued Uptake of Novartis’ Gilenya as a Second Line Agent Has Begun to Impact Both Use of the More Established DMAs and

EXTON, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- While physician trial of Novartis’ Gilenya, the first oral disease-modifying agent (DMA) for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), has slowed over the past quarter, market share continues to grow as a result of expanded uptake by prescribers. Teva’s Copaxone continues to be the market leader, capturing just under one-third of DMA-treated MS patients, with Biogen Idec’s Avonex also strong among CIS and RRMS patients and Bayer’s Betaseron and Pfizer / EMD Serono’s Rebif strong among progressive MS patients. Among RRMS patients, Betaseron appears to be the DMA most negatively impacted by adoption of Gilenya. Despite expanded use, Gilenya is still rarely thought of as a first-line agent; neurologists tend to view it as a second or third line agent, especially following an efficacy failure. Interestingly, while surveyed neurologists claim that the vast majority of their patients prefer an oral formulation, they perceive that a very small percent of patients prefer Gilenya over the other available DMAs. Perhaps in response to the availability of Gilenya and continued communications related to increased prevalence of PML cases, neurologists report being significantly less comfortable with Tysabri’s risk-benefit profile compared to neurologists surveyed in the previous quarter.

Neurologists report a high unmet need for products that hold the promise of putting MS into remission or offering improved efficacy over currently available DMAs. Although Gilenya appears to be meeting an unmet efficacy need for some, Gilenya non-prescribers see efficacy as significantly more of an unmet need compared to Gilenya prescribers. Among the seven therapies in development that were profiled in the research, while aided awareness was highest for EMD Serono’s oral cladribine, interest was highest for Biogen Idec’s BG-12 and Teva’s laquinimod. Already, surveyed neurologists show clear patterns of displacement across the current DMAs if and when the DMAs in development reach the market.

After more than one year on the market, neurologists anticipate Ampyra prescribing volume to remain flat over the next six months with product discontinuations appearing to play a role in limiting overall market share. Trial, usage, and familiarity of Avanir’s Nuedexta, an agent launched for the treatment of pseudobulbar affect in late January 2011, continues to be limited after four months of commercial availability. While awareness of the three surveyed MS-related symptomatic products in development is low, neurologists report moderate levels of interest in the products and believe Otsuka’s Sativex, an agent for the treatment of spasticity, would provide the greatest clinical value to their practice.

TreatmentTrends®: Multiple Sclerosis is a syndicated quarterly report series that provides a comprehensive view of the current and expected future management of multiple sclerosis (MS) based on primary research. The Q2 2011 wave was fielded with 100 neurologists in the U.S. in mid-May 2011. A parallel report covering the European market (EU5) will be published later this year. These reports cover the use of disease-modifying agents for the treatment of MS, as well as attitudes and perceptions toward these products, advantages and disadvantages, ideal patient types, barriers to growth, and expected future use. In addition, respondents were queried about their awareness of and interest in MS-related DMA and symptomatic products in development.

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