Abbott/Eisai's Humira termed as most efficacious therapy for psoriasis

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that surveyed dermatologists view Abbott/Eisai's Humira as the most efficacious therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis. Thirty-two percent of surveyed dermatologists selected Humira as the most efficacious, followed by Centocor Ortho Biotech/Merck/Mitsubishi Tanabe's Remicade (29 percent). The current sales leader Amgen/Pfizer/Takeda's Enbrel was selected as the most efficacious therapy by only 23 percent of dermatologists surveyed.

The new report entitled Psoriasis: Dermatologists Identify Remaining Opportunities as the Number of Highly Efficacious Biologics Continues to Grow also finds that surveyed dermatologists view a therapy's effect on psoriatic plaques at 12 weeks as the attribute that most influences their prescribing decisions in moderate to severe psoriasis. Clinical data and the opinions of the interviewed thought leaders indicate that Abbott's briakinumab and Centocor Ortho Biotech/Janssen-Cilag's Stelara have advantages over Enbrel on this attribute.

"In previous years, Enbrel has been viewed as the most efficacious therapy for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis. However, since Humira's approval for psoriasis in early 2008, those perceptions are gradually changing," said Decision Resources Analyst Irene Koulinska, Sc.D, M.D. "Nevertheless, dermatologists consider Enbrel the safest biologic for psoriasis, a perception that, along with its longer presence on the market relative to Humira and its more-convenient administration relative to Remicade, has significantly contributed to its market-leading status."

The report also finds that Stelara will retain Decision Resources' proprietary clinical gold-standard status for the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis through 2018. In 2009, Stelara earned gold-standard status because of competitive advantages in efficacy and delivery over TNF-alpha inhibitors.

Webinar

Members of the media are welcome to attend our upcoming webinar entitled What Key Drug Attributes Will Emerging Therapies Need to Erode the Dominance of TNF-alpha Inhibitors in Moderate to Severe Psoriasis? This webinar will be held on Wednesday, March 31 at 10 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time. For more information, please contact Chris Comfort at 781-296-2597 or by e-mail at [email protected].