Rheumatologists Express Significant Interest in Benlysta, the First Novel Drug for the Treatment of Lupus in Decades

EXTON, Pa., June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- BioTrends is pleased to announce the upcoming publication of a new syndicated report, TreatmentTrends®: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).  This report will provide a comprehensive market overview of current and future treatment trends in SLE based on a primary research study fielded with 102 rheumatologists in the U.S. during the first week in June.  

Preliminary findings indicate that despite the availability of multiple treatment options, most of which are used in combination of three or more agents in moderate to severe disease, rheumatologists consider the unmet need for new therapies for SLE to be significantly greater compared to any other rheumatology condition that they treat in their clinical practice.  Though current therapies such as immunosuppressants, cytotoxic agents and steroids are effective in treating SLE, rheumatologists express concern about patients' ability to stay on therapy due to the unwanted side effects associated with these agents.  

No new therapies have been approved for SLE in five decades and numerous products have failed in clinical trials.  However, rheumatologists expressed a high level of interest in Human Genome Science/GSK's Benlysta, a first-in-class BLyS-specific inhibitor currently under review by the FDA for SLE.  Rheumatologists reacted positively to the product's unique mechanism of action and favorable safety profile after viewing a product description (which included the most recent BLISS-52 and BLISS-76 study results).  Most rheumatologists expect to begin using Benlysta within the first six months of launch.  Further, a significant proportion of rheumatologists with in-office-infusion capability expect to increase their infusion capacity as a result of more patients seeking treatment and the availability of new, infused biologic agents.  

TreatmentTrends®: Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is an annual market research study that is derived from responses to an on-line survey completed by over 100 rheumatologists.  This report evaluates current and anticipated future class and brand utilization, rheumatologists' perceptions about attribute importance and product performance; and drivers and barriers to product adoption and usage.  Finally, the report also provides a competitive review of the awareness of new products in late stage development and their potential value to physicians' practices.  Later this year, BioTrends will also be fielding a parallel report, ChartTrends®: Lupus, which will analyze the details of over 1,000 patients with lupus currently being treated by rheumatologists.  Should HGS/GSK be successful in gaining approval for Benlysta, a LaunchTrends®: Benlysta study will kickoff in 2011 measuring success at one-month, three-month and six-month intervals following FDA approval.

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