Surveyed Endocrinologists in Europe and the United States Only Expect to Switch a Minority of Their Patients Currently Receiving Lantus to Biosimilar Insulin Glargine

BURLINGTON, Mass., Nov. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources Group finds that surveyed endocrinologists in the United States, France and Germany expect to switch less than one-third of their Lantus-treated patients to an insulin glargine biosimilar, such as Eli Lilly's and Boehringer Ingelheim's Abasria. According to surveyed German nephrologists, the majority of their epoetin alfa-treated patients receive a biosimilar, whereas their French counterparts indicate that they prescribe the reference brand, Johnson & Johnson's Eprex, to a greater proportion of patients than biosimilars.     

Other key findings from the Biosimilars Advisory Service report entitled Physician Perspectives on Erythropoiesis-Stimulating Agents, Insulin, and Human Growth Hormone:

• Impact of patient costs on specialist prescribing: Seventy-seven percent of U.S. nephrologists and 87 percent of U.S. endocrinologists surveyed indicate they would moderately or significantly increase their use of biosimilars, if biosimilars had lower patient out-of-pocket costs than the reference brands.   
• Speed of adoption of biosimilar insulin analogues: The majority of surveyed European and U.S. endocrinologists expect to prescribe lower-cost biosimilar insulin analogues within 12 months of launch.   
• Preferred clinical package for biosimilar insulin analogues: The majority of surveyed endocrinologists expect to require an insulin analogue biosimilar to be evaluated in at least three Phase III trials in order to feel comfortable prescribing the product to their patients.
• Initial penetration of biosimilar erythropoiesis-stimulating agents in the U.S.: Compared with research conducted by the Biosimilars Advisory Service in 2013, a significantly higher proportion of U.S. nephrologists surveyed in 2014 indicate that they will initially use a biosimilar in many or all of their dialysis patients.

Comments from Decision Resources Group Senior Business Insights Analyst Anees Malik:

• "We expect endocrinologists to be reluctant to switch responding patients from branded insulins to biosimilar insulins, which has a negative impact on the total market opportunity for biosimilar insulins. However, the majority of endocrinologists that we surveyed expect to start prescribing biosimilar insulins within 12 months of launch, suggesting that they are willing to prescribe biosimilars to patients not already on therapy."
• "The high rate of biosimilar epoetin alfa penetration in Germany in the nephrology setting has been driven by a biosimilar prescribing quota for office-based nephrologists. In the U.S., we expect Medicare bundled payment system for drugs used in dialysis patients to encourage physicians to prescribe less-expensive biosimilars rather than the brands."

Additional Resources:

• On November 19, 2014, Decision Resources Group will present a webinar based on this report entitled Will Insulin Biosimilars Perform Better than Biosimilar Somatropin? For more information, please contact Christopher Comfort at [email protected].

About Decision Resources Group
Decision Resources Group offers best-in-class, high-value information and insights on critical issues within the healthcare industry. Clients rely on this analysis and data to make informed decisions. Find out more at www.DecisionResourcesGroup.com.

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

For more information, contact:

Decision Resources Group
Christopher Comfort
781-993-2597
[email protected]

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SOURCE Decision Resources Group

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