Gastroenterologists Indicate They Are Increasingly Using Biologics to Treat Patients with Crohn's Disease in Remission than They Were One Year Ago, According to a Recent BioTrends Report

EXTON, Pa., March 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BioTrends Research Group, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for specialized biopharmaceutical issues, finds that, although there have been no significant changes with regard to biologic treatment and Crohn's disease (CD) patients with active disease since 2012, surveyed gastroenterologist data indicate a significant 43 percent increase in biologic treatment among CD patients in remission since 2012, suggesting that biologic agents are increasingly prescribed to maintain the state of remission. The increase in biologic share among the CD patients in remission is most likely at the cost of 5-ASA treatment, which has experienced a 15 percent decline during the same time period, according to the surveyed gastroenterologists. Furthermore, Abbott's adalimumab (Humira) and UCB's certolizumab (Cimzia) are driving the escalation of biologic treatment among the remission population, with both agents experiencing significant patient share growth in this group over the past year.

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Although adalimumab and certolizumab are driving the escalation of biologic treatment among patients in remission, Janssen's infliximab (Remicade) remains the market leading biologic agent for the treatment of CD across all severities. More specifically, infliximab garners significantly more patient share, across all disease states, than any other CD treating biologic agent, followed by adalimumab then certolizumab. Though infliximab is used to treat a greater proportion of Crohn's patients across all severities, surveyed gastroenterologists equally value Humira with regard to preference, risk-benefit ratio and overall performance.

The recently published TreatmentTrends^®: Crohn's Disease (US) report also reveals that three-quarters of the surveyed physicians feel that there is a high unmet need for new agents to treat Crohn's disease, often citing that they are challenged by the adverse events/side effects of current treatment and that achieving and maintaining remission and avoiding treatment failures are also issues. With regard to products in development, nearly one-third of gastroenterologists claim to be aware of products in development for the treatment of CD. Of those with unaided awareness of products in development, more than one-quarter noted Janssen's ustekinumab (Stelara), 22 percent specifically noted Takeda's vedolizumab and 22 percent noted Janssen's Simponi. When aided and asked which emerging agent will bring the most value to their practices, gastroenterologists are divided in opinion among vedolizumab, Stelara and Traficet-EN.

TreatmentTrends^®: Crohn's Disease (US)  is an annual syndicated primary market research report series that provides a comprehensive view of the current and expected future management of CD, with a focus on biologic treatment. The survey was fielded in February.  The study included 91 board-certified gastroenterologists. TreatmentTrends^®: Crohn's Disease (US) covers treatment approaches, including the use of pharmacotherapy for the treatment of CD, as well as attitudes and perceptions toward the biologic agents, advantages and disadvantages of these agents, ideal patient types, barriers to growth, and expected future use. In addition, respondents were queried about their awareness of and interest in products in development for the treatment of CD.

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SOURCE BioTrends Research Group