Nearly Three-Quarters of Surveyed Primary Care Physicians are Unfamiliar with Approved Direct Acting Antivirals for Hepatitis C Virus

BURLINGTON, Mass., June 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources Group finds that less than one-third of surveyed primary care physicians (PCPs) are familiar with the first-generation hepatitis C virus (HCV) protease inhibitors, Vertex's Incivek and Merck's Victrelis, despite the fact that these direct acting antivirals have been marketed in the U.S. since 2011. Furthermore, approximately three-quarters of surveyed PCPs are unaware that Janssen/Medivir's Olysio and Gilead's Sovaldi recently received FDA approval for the treatment of HCV infections, highlighting an opportunity for drug marketers to increase their prescriber pool by raising awareness of the current HCV treatment options among PCPs.

Other key findings from the U.S. Physician and Payer Forum report entitled: Primary Care Physicians in an Interferon-Free World: How Will the Availability of Safer and More Effective Oral Therapies Impact the Role of PCPs in Treating HCV Patients?:

• Physician receptivity to emerging all-oral, interferon (IFN) -free therapies: Although more than half of surveyed specialists feel comfortable with the idea of PCPs prescribing all-oral, IFN-free regimens to treatment-naive HCV patients with minimal liver damage, approximately one-third of surveyed PCPs expect to always refer these patients to a specialist for care.
• Managed care organization (MCO) responsiveness to new HCV treatment guidelines: More than half of surveyed MCO pharmacy and/or medical directors (PDs/MDs) are aware of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases' treatment guidelines and the majority of them report that these guidelines have impacted their organization's willingness to reimburse or give favorable formulary status to HCV regimens recommended in these guidelines.
• Use of formulary restrictions as a mechanism for cost control: Among the majority of PDs/MDs whose MCOs include Gilead's Sovaldi on formulary, these payers estimated that more than one-third of large commercial health plans and nearly half of Medicare Advantage plans restrict Sovaldi to prescription by specialists only, thereby preventing PCPs from utilizing this agent.

Comments from Decision Resources Group Analyst Hannah E. Cummings, Ph.D.:

• "Most surveyed PCPs follow up with their specialist-referred patients with suspected or confirmed HCV infection and estimate that nearly one quarter of referred patients are lost in follow up. Similarly, most specialists report having PCP-referred patients who never appear for their exam; these physicians estimate 15 percent of PCP-referred patients do not follow up. Our findings suggest that referral to specialists represents a barrier to accessing care for some HCV patients. Therefore, direct HCV treatment by PCPs could help maximize the number of patients retained in care." 
• "The high price of Sovaldi is a major concern among payers, many of whom have spent tens of millions of dollars on this drug within the first quarter of 2014. Surveyed MCOs anticipate that even greater prescribing restrictions will be placed on emerging interferon-free therapies, which will represent a notable barrier to wider PCP involvement."

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SOURCE Decision Resources Group