As Adoption Deepens Among Prescribers, Satisfaction with Gilenya Remains Muted Due to Continuing Issues with Novartis Support, Managed Care Coverage, and Safety Perceptions, According to a Recent Report from BioTrends

EXTON, Penn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–At six months post launch, market share of Novartis’ Gilenya, the newest disease-modifying agent (DMA) for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), has increased significantly compared to earlier waves of research fielded at one month and three months post-launch. With a nonsignificant increase in physician trial over the past three months, much of the increase in market share is being driven by significant growth in volume per prescriber reflecting deeper adoption within individual practices. The product’s unique oral formulation continues to be perceived as its greatest advantage. Non-prescribers pinpoint concerns over Gilenya’s lack of long-term safety data and issues related to the initiation and monitoring of patients on Gilenya as major obstacles to trial. Overall, satisfaction with Gilenya remains significantly lower than that reported by early adopters one month post-launch. Dissatisfaction seems to be driven by lack of Novartis support, managed care concerns, and safety worries.

The recently released third wave of the LaunchTrends^®: Gilenya report series finds that neurologists perceive Gilenya as a second line DMA, following either an efficacy or tolerability failure. Although all DMAs — Biogen Idec’s Avonex and Tysabri, Bayer’s Betaseron, Teva’s Copaxone and Pfizer/EMD Serono’s Rebif — are expected to be impacted by Gilenya switches to some degree, neurologists continue to believe that Avonex and Tysabri are most at risk for cannibalization. The projected share trends for Gilenya remain favorable as surveyed neurologists anticipate a significant increase in use within the next six months. Interestingly, anticipated peak use for Gilenya, which has increased significantly compared to the previous waves, is not significantly different between current prescribers and non-prescribers suggesting that both groups see Gilenya as an important option in their MS treatment armamentarium.

LaunchTrends^®: Gilenya is a three wave syndicated report series designed to track the uptake of Novartis’s Gilenya at one month, three months and six months following its commercial availability. In the current wave of research, which measures Gilenya’s market impact at six months post-launch, BioTrends surveyed 76 neurologists and conducted qualitative interviews with a subset of 20 of the respondents in April 2011. BioTrends will continue to track the uptake of Gilenya in the ongoing TreatmentTrends^®: Multiple Sclerosis report series, which is published quarterly.

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