Teva’s Copaxone Maintains a Dominant Presence in the MS Treatment Algorithm

July 13, 2011 – BURLINGTON, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Decision Resources, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that among recently treated multiple sclerosis (MS) patients in the fourth quarter of 2010, Teva’s Copaxone garnered the highest patient share among key individual MS therapies, while the interferon-beta products as a class captured the largest patient share. Copaxone was also the preferred therapy among newly diagnosed MS patients in both the first and second lines of therapy.

According to Treatment Algorithms in Multiple Sclerosis, Biogen Idec/Elan’s Tysabri saw little use as a first-line therapy among newly diagnosed patients, consistent with its labeling, but experienced a considerable increase in patient share as a second-line therapy. In addition, Tysabri received nearly a 10 percent patient share among recently treated patients in the last quarter of 2010.

“Copaxone’s dominant presence in early lines of MS treatment reflects in part its comparable efficacy to and its tolerability advantage over the interferon-beta products. Moreover, patients who fail an interferon-beta product in the first line may move to Copaxone second-line because of its alternative mechanism of action,” said Decision Resources Analyst Georgiana Kuhlmann, S.M. “Meanwhile, Tysabri’s strong efficacy and excellent tolerability, coupled with the continued need for highly effective treatments, render it an important option for treatment-refractory patients or those with high disease activity.”