Biologic Agents For The Treatment Of Rheumatoid Arthritis Are Used By Less Than 3% Of Patients On First-Line And Less Than 4% On Second-Line

Decision Resources, one of the
world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and
healthcare issues, finds that although biologic agents used for the
treatment of rheumatoid arthritis are approved for first-line use, they are
actually used by less than 3% of patients on first-line treatment and less
than 4% on second-line treatment. According to the new report entitled
Treatment Algorithms in Rheumatoid Arthritis, this limited penetration is
due primarily to payer restrictions on reimbursement; patients must often
fail therapy on methotrexate before the high cost of biologics will be
reimbursed by health care plans. Therefore, substantial revenue opportunity
for conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) remains in
early lines of therapy.



Until January 1, 2006, when the Medicare Prescription Drug,
Improvement, and Modernization Act (MMA) went into effect,
Centocor/Schering-Plough/Tanabe Seiyaku's Remicade held a reimbursement
advantage over other TNF-alpha inhibitors because, under previous Medicare
regulations, self-administered injectable drugs were not reimbursable.



"Despite Remicade's advantage to Medicare subscribers, Amgen/Wyeth's
Enbrel still managed to capture an equal percentage of first- and
second-line patient shares, and has greater use than Remicade in third-line
patient share," said Dr. Madhuri Borde, analyst at Decision Resources.



Treatment Algorithms for Rheumatoid Arthritis allows pharmaceutical
organizations to quantify lines of therapy through primary research and
patient-level data. Users can:



Understand current treatment patterns and anticipate future market
dynamics.



Drive product growth through accurate knowledge of a product's
positioning among the lines of therapy and why physicians use it at that
point.



Target specific competitors that are preceding or following a product
and benefit from actionable analysis of the path to treatment and
physicians' decision parameters.



Develop more sophisticated market-forecasting patient-flow models
based on unique, accurate information regarding the percentage of patients
receiving a product at specific stages in the line of therapy.



About Treatment Algorithms Insight Series



Decision Resources combines in-depth primary research with the most
extensive claims-based longitudinal patient-level data from PharMetrics(R)
to provide exceptional insight into physicians' prescribing trends and the
factors that drive therapy product choice, from diagnosis through multiple
courses of treatment, for a specific disease.
















For each disease examined, Decision Resources' Treatment Algorithms
Insight Series provides:



Summary of U.S. medical practice based on interviews with leading
experts in the field.



Qualitative diagnosis/referral/treatment algorithm for the United
States.


-- Drug usage by lines of therapy (1st, 2nd, 3rd line).


-- Discussion of key freeform combinations by lines of therapy.


-- Product share (class and specific compound level) within each line of
therapy (1st, 2nd, 3rd line).


-- Progression of therapy from key 1st line products.


-- Pathway to key therapies from previous therapies.


-- Qualitative analysis of 2-year forecast incorporating upcoming
launches, changes in reimbursement, etc.



About Decision Resources



Decision Resources, Inc., (DecisionResources) is a world leader
in healthcare market research publications, advisory services, and
consulting designed to help clients shape strategy, allocate resources, and
master their chosen markets.



All company, brand, or product names contained in this document may be
trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.


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View drug information on Enbrel; Remicade.