Surveyed European Oncologists Assign Greater Patient Share to Johnson & Johnson's Abiraterone Compared With Other Emerging Therapies in Asymptomatic or Minimally Symptomatic Metastatic Castrate-Resistant Prostate Cancer

BURLINGTON, Mass., Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, according to surveyed European oncologists, Johnson & Johnson's abiraterone will capture greater patient share than Dendreon's Provenge, AstraZeneca's zibotentan or Bristol-Myers Squibb's ipilimumab in asymptomatic or minimally symptomatic, metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (MCRPC).

According to the new European Physician & Payer Forum report entitled Will Emerging Agents for Prostate Cancer Achieve Acceptance from Payers and Prescribers in Europe?, surveyed oncologists in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom say that efficacy is overwhelmingly the most important factor dictating the uptake of emerging therapies for MCRPC.

"Emerging agents need to improve efficacy over current standards of care in order to penetrate the market," said Decision Resources Analyst Andrew Merron, Ph.D. "The barrier is lower in the asymptomatic MCRPC setting where clinicians are dependent on hormonal therapies, while barriers are greater in the symptomatic MCRPC setting where Sanofi-Aventis's Taxotere (docetaxel), the gold-standard, is widely prescribed. As a result, most agents in clinical trials are being used in combination with Taxotere for symptomatic MCRPC."

In symptomatic MCRPC, the majority of patients will receive a Taxotere-containing regimen one year following the launch of emerging therapies. Celgene's Revlimid and Bristol-Myers Squibb's Sprycel and zibotentan will compete to partner with Taxotere. After considering reimbursement hurdles in their countries, overall, French and Italian oncologists assign the greatest patient share to Sprycel and zibotentan. However, the greatest patient share of any regimen will be attributed to Taxotere/prednisone alone with no emerging therapy additions.

In non-metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (NMCRPC), Amgen's Prolia has considerable commercial potential assuming it can gain approval as an anti-neoplastic agent (and improve bone metastases-free survival). Significant commercial potential in the NMCRPC setting arises from the large drug-treatable pool and potentially long treatment durations.

The report also finds that abiraterone use in the asymptomatic setting is the only emerging therapy in NMCRPC or first-line MCRPC which is likely to secure a favorable NICE appraisal, according to the majority of surveyed oncologists in the United Kingdom. Interviewed payers indicate that the premium prices of emerging therapies, (notably Revlimid and Provenge) may limit uptake although generic docetaxel will help stimulate use of emerging therapies used in combination with docetaxel because of an overall reduced cost of the regimen.

The report is based on a survey of 251 oncologists from Germany (50), France (50), Italy (51), Spain (50) and the United Kingdom (50) and interviews with 15 European payers from Germany (3), France (3), Italy (3), Spain (3) and the United Kingdom (3).

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SOURCE Decision Resources