Roche's Ocrevus: Penetrating Beyond Progressive MS

EXTON, Pa., May 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The future landscape of the DMT market is embedded in the evolving trends occurring in two key patient segments: new start patients and switch patients.  Spherix collaborated with several hundred neurologists to collect and analyze chart data on over 2,000 MS patients that either started DMT therapy for the first time or were switched to a different DMT brand in the past three months.

As reported in the on-going quarterly series RealTime Dynamix, the patient chart analysis (n=1,020) from RealWorld Dynamix ™ reveals that oral agents, such as Sanofi-Genyzme's Aubagio, Novartis' Gilenya and Biogen's Tecfidera, are pushing into first-line position for a sizeable percent of the MS population.  In fact, patients being treated in MS specialty centers and by office-based neurologists that do not offer infusion therapy were more likely than patients being managed by neurologists in other settings to be prescribed an oral agent as their first-line DMT.  At presentation, patients started on oral DMTs first-line had lower EDSS scores than those initiated on platform injectables, but had similar lesion loads.  Although Teva's Copaxone still holds a solid first-line position, the rising threat from Sandoz's Glatopa cannot be ignored.  Among the patients started on Glatopa, the patient's insurance was noted as a leading factor in the drug's selection for the vast majority of new starts.

With a plethora of DMTs now available, neurologists report increased switching rates at faster intervals with an estimated 30% of their DMT-treated patients making a brand change in a given year.  In the switch analysis arm (n=1,002) the majority of patients moved from their first to second-line agent with most shifting away from platform injectables.  Although less than 10% of patients in the new start analysis were initiated on infused/mAB therapies, this category gains with each successive switch and by third-line, more than one-quarter of the patients were on Biogen's Tysabri, Sanofi-Genyzme's Lemtrada, Roche/Genentech's Rituxan or AbbVie/Biogen's Zinbryta.  Patients being switched to infused/mAb agents had higher disease activity characterized by 43% experiencing a relapse, 38% with an increasing number of T2 lesions, 32% with Gd-enhancing lesions and 18% with evidence of brain atrophy since the prior visit.

As the first drug to gain FDA approval for PPMS, Ocrevus was unsurprisingly indicated as a "very likely" choice for patients with PPMS.  However, for close to 20% of the RRMS patients, neurologists also indicated a high likelihood of choosing Ocrevus as the next line agent if the current therapy is not successful.  The upcoming June release of RealTime Dynamix will provide the first look into Ocrevus uptake in the US.

RealWorld Dynamix is an independent report derived from a robust patient audit focused on the new start and switch patient segments.  Unlike claims data, the analysis includes physician assessment, rationale for treatment decisions and future intent related to DMT selection.  In addition, key variables such as patient engagement level, the influence of the payer, socioeconomic and QOL metrics, co-morbidities, concomitant medications and test results are also included to provide a comprehensive analysis of the patient journey.  In total, the combined analysis includes over 2,000 patient records.

About Spherix Global Insights
Spherix Global Insights is a business intelligence and market research company specializing in renal, autoimmune, neurologic and rare disease markets.  We provide clients with strategic insights leveraged from our independent studies conducted with healthcare providers and other stakeholders.

All company, brand or product names in this document are trademarks of their respective holders.

For more information contact:
Robbie McCarthy, Chief Strategy Officer
Email: [email protected] 
Phone: 1-800-661-0571

SOURCE Spherix Global Insights

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