IMS Health to launch comprehensive analytical tool for oncology market

IMS Health (NYSE: RX), the world’s leading provider of market intelligence to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, today announced the upcoming launch of IMS Oncology Quantifier^TM, a comprehensive, clinically rich analytical tool that enables the company’s clients to assess treatment opportunities and guide commercial decisions in the $48 billion global oncology market.

Available starting in January 2010, IMS Oncology Quantifier offers a deeper level of insight into oncology product uptake and treatment patterns, including therapies most often prescribed in leading markets, their effectiveness in treating specific types of cancer, and their impact when used for new or future indications.

The offering covers the U.S., France, Germany, U.K., Italy, Spain and Japan, countries that represent more than 90 percent of the global market for cancer treatments. Oncology is the largest and fastest-growing therapy class, with more than 130 products currently in Phase III clinical trials or pre-approval stage.

“IMS Oncology Quantifier brings together our extensive information assets and expert analysis for a complete view of this growing and highly complex therapeutic class,” said Steven Gavel, global director, Oncology, IMS. “Through a better understanding of treatment trends and market dynamics, our clients gain invaluable insights for identifying and addressing unmet patient needs, conducting more effective clinical trials, and identifying new growth opportunities.”

By integrating IMS’s anonymized patient-level diagnosis and treatment information with product sales data, IMS Oncology Quantifier provides market growth projections and utilization levels for drugs used to treat 27 types of cancers – organized by tumor type, disease stage, line of therapy and regimen, and geography. In addition, the offering measures and assesses the impact of generic and biosimilar oncology treatments, as well as new and future indications for cancer drugs.

IMS Oncology Quantifier combines two of the company’s robust information products, MIDAS™ and Oncology Analyzer™, to accurately measure treatment patterns and advance market research initiatives. Through it, clients can drive more consistent, evidence-based product lifecycle management decisions – from developing drug indication sequencing and geographic launch plans, to competitive benchmarking and product performance tracking.

The offering is the latest addition to IMS Specialty Solutions^TM, a portfolio of next-generation market intelligence services focused exclusively on specialty pharmaceutical market requirements and challenges. They are a core component of the company’s New Models, New Metrics program, which provides market measurement services to help clients better navigate today’s dynamic healthcare environment.