Benlysta Continues to Penetrate Moderate to Severe Lupus
EXTON, Penn.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--BioTrends Research Group, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms for specialized biopharmaceutical issues, finds in its LaunchTrends: Benlysta Wave 4 report, that more than two-thirds of surveyed rheumatologists have initiated trial on Benlysta, up from 51 percent in Wave 3 (six months post-launch) and significantly higher than all previous waves in the LaunchTrends: Benlysta report series. One of the most notable shifts in prescribing since one month post-launch is a significant increase in current Benlysta shares for the moderate and severe patient groups.
Rheumatologists continue to view the main benefit for Human Genome Sciences/GSK’s Benlysta, the first drug approved for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in five decades, as its novel mechanism of action, while its main disadvantages continue to center around cost (patients’ out-of-pocket expense), its intravenous route of administration, its limited indications, and its lack of proven/modest efficacy. Since Wave 2, Benlysta continues to be most associated with two of the most important attributes for prescribing: improvement in quality of life and decreased use of steroids. Surveyed rheumatologists most commonly describe the Benlysta target patient as refractory or having failed prior treatment, with active, moderate to severe SLE, and in need of steroid reduction.
LaunchTrends: Benlysta is a series of four post-launch syndicated reports designed to track the uptake of Human Genome Sciences/GSK’s Benlysta at one month, three months, six months, and 12 months following its commercial availability. In the current wave of research, which measures Benlysta’s market impact at twelve months post launch, BioTrends surveyed 101 rheumatologists and conducted qualitative interviews with a subset of 15 of the respondents in April 2012. This is the final report of this series. However, BioTrends will continue to track the usage of Benlysta in the on-going TreatmentTrends®: Lupus U.S. and ChartTrends®: Lupus U.S. report series.
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