Surveyed Physicians Indicate Market Opportunities Exist for Novel MRSA Agents that Provide Improvements in Safety, Dosing and Availability in Oral Formulation

EXTON, Pa., July 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- BioTrends Research Group and Arlington Medical Resources find in their TreatmentTrends®: MRSA and Serious Gram-Positive Infections (US) 2013 report that over 50 percent of surveyed infectious diseases (ID) specialists cited, unaided, that new oral therapies and therapies with improvements in safety and tolerability, especially during prolonged use, represent a current unmet need segment of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus  (MRSA) market.  Physicians also note that safety and tolerability benefits are key when opting for branded agents in lieu of lower-cost IV vancomycin, the mainstay therapy for MRSA infections.

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IV vancomycin's well-established efficacy and lower cost continue to pose notable challenges to branded agents. However, decreasing susceptibility to IV vancomycin and increasing experience with branded alternatives are the leading factors influencing surveyed specialists to shift away from IV vancomycin.  While almost 30 percent of current prescribers reported a decrease in their usage of IV vancomycin for the treatment of MRSA infections in the preceding 12 months, a notable share of prescribers of Forest/AstraZeneca/Dainippon Sumitomo's Teflaro, Pfizer's Zyvox and Cubist/Novartis's Cubicin indicated an increase in their usage of these key anti-MRSA brands.

"Branded competitors and emerging therapies can capitalize on the emergence of MRSA with reduced susceptibility to vancomycin," said BioTrends Research Group Analyst Stephen Moore. "However, in an increasingly crowded MRSA market dominated by a lower-priced IV vancomycin option, branded and follow-on therapies will have to demonstrate clear benefits in efficacy and safety to successfully compete."

Surprisingly, awareness of products in development is low among surveyed ID specialists, with nearly 80 percent of respondents unable to recall, unaided, any agents in development for the treatment of MRSA infections. Among those with unaided awareness of emerging MRSA therapies, the most commonly recalled agents were Durata's dalbavancin, Trius Therapeutics'/Bayer's tedizolid, and The Medicines Company's oritavancin. With respect to the long-acting agents in development, a majority of physicians indicate that dalbavancin and oritavancin are most appropriate for the outpatient setting, indicating that less-frequent dosing will continue to be an important market differentiator for outpatient prescribing.

TreatmentTrends®: MRSA and Serious Gram-Positive Infections (US) 2013, an annual report that includes data from 100 ID specialists, provides insight into the treatment of patients with MRSA and other Serious Gram-positive infections in the hospital setting.

About BioTrends Research Group
BioTrends Research Group provides syndicated and custom primary market research to pharmaceutical manufacturers competing in clinically evolving, specialty pharmaceutical markets. For information on BioTrends publications and research capabilities, please visit www.bio-trends.com. BioTrends is a Decision Resources Group company.

About Arlington Medical Resources
Arlington Medical Resources (www.AMR-data.com) serves the market intelligence needs of the pharmaceutical and diagnostic imaging industries. Research includes clinical inpatient and hospital databases that directly link anti-infective drugs with indication/procedure, formulary and stocking status tracking studies, drug purchasing audits and diagnostic imaging procedure volume/contrast media usage audits. Arlington Medical Resources is a Decision Resources Group company.

About Decision Resources Group
Decision Resources Group is a cohesive portfolio of companies that offers best-in-class, high-value information and insights on important sectors of the healthcare industry. Clients rely on this analysis and data to make informed decisions. Please visit Decision Resources Group at www.DecisionResourcesGroup.com.

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SOURCE BioTrends Research Group