Use of Centocor-Ortho Biotech's Stelara (Ustekinumab) is on an Upswing as Familiarity Increases and Experience With the Product Produces Excellent Outcomes, According to U.S. Dermatologists

EXTON, Pa., May 26 /PRNewswire/ --  BioTrends released the final wave of LaunchTrends^®: Stelara, a three wave syndicated report that has been tracking the uptake of the product since launch.  In the final wave of research, which measures success at the six months post launch mark, BioTrends surveyed 76 clinical dermatologists and conducted qualitative interviews with a subset of 20 of the respondents.

Compared to the prior wave, which measured uptake at three months post launch, dermatologists are significantly more familiar with Stelara and the percent of surveyed dermatologists now using the product nearly doubled.  Although Stelara share is still relatively low, the projected share trends are favorable with current users anticipating increased use and a majority of current non-users expecting to begin trial of Stelara in the near future.  In fact, at six months post launch, the respondents reported a higher patient share for Stelara compared to Remicade.  Astellas' Amevive lags behind the other biologic agents in share, largely due to perceptions about efficacy and significantly lower promotional activity.

Dermatologists with Stelara experience tout the strong efficacy profile and boast of near total clearance rates in very challenging patients.  Concerns over long term safety, particularly with a new mechanism agent, make it likely that Stelara will be reserved for second and later line at least for the near term. Interestingly, however, anti-TNF mechanism drugs, such as Abbott's Humira and Pfizer/Amgen's Enbrel, were rated highest on safety profile, but the IL-12/23 mechanism surpassed anti-TNF agents on the efficacy profile.

BioTrends will continue to track the psoriasis market dynamics in TreatmentTrends: Psoriasis, a syndicated report that covers the US and EU markets.  Dermatologists report a high need for additional products to treat psoriasis, and although familiarity with products in development (Celgene's apremilast, Pfizer's CP-690 and Abbott's ABT-874) is currently low, a majority of respondents report a very high interest in these new therapies.  These reports will be published in August.

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SOURCE BioTrends Research Group, Inc.