Significant opportunity for alternative ulcerative colitis biological therapy

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that a biological therapy with a mechanism of action other than tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) inhibition for the treatment of moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, would earn a 25 percent patient share according to surveyed U.S. gastroenterologists. Similarly, in Europe, such an agent would also earn 25 percent patient share according to surveyed European gastroenterologists. These findings highlight the significant opportunity for a biological therapy with a novel mechanism of action to serve as an alternative to Centocor Ortho Biotech/Merck/Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma's Remicade (infliximab) for the treatment of moderate to severe ulcerative colitis.

The new report entitled Ulcerative Colitis: Gastroenterologists Identify Emerging Drugs That Will Challenge the Benchmark Therapy Infliximab for Moderate to Severe UC finds that two emerging TNF-alpha inhibitors--Abbott/Eisai's Humira and Centocor Ortho Biotech/Merck/Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma/Janssen's Simponi--will earn Decision Resources' proprietary clinical gold standard status for ulcerative colitis in 2013 following their approval for the indication. Both Humira and Simponi have competitive advantages over the sales-leader--Remicade--in efficacy, delivery and safety and tolerability.

"Although clinical trial data are limited, interviewed experts believe that both Humira and Simponi's fully human composition will translate into incremental advantages in efficacy for maintenance of remission and maintenance of response compared to Remicade, which is a chimeric monoclonal antibody," said Decision Resources Analyst Kathryn Benton.