Surveyed Retinal Specialists Are Receptive to Ophthotech's Fovista, In line with a Moderate to High Unmet Need for Greater Vision Gains in Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration

BURLINGTON, Mass., March 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources Group finds that surveyed U.S. and European retinal specialists ascribe a moderate to high unmet need for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) therapies that improve visual acuity. In line with this finding, surveyed U.S. retinal specialists expect that they would prescribe Ophthotech's Fovista to 25 percent of their wet AMD patients. Fovista is an adjunctive, anti-platelet-derived growth factor that is being developed with the aim of improving visual acuity over monotherapy with existing anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) standards of care.

Other key findings from the DecisionBase report entitled Wet Age-Related Macular Degeneration: How Receptive Are Retinal Specialists and Payers to Emerging Therapies Offering Vision Improvements or Greater Dosing Convenience?:

• Eylea and Lucentis: Eylea (Regeneron/Bayer HealthCare) achieves the position of current clinical gold standard in Decision Resources Group's proprietary drug comparator model, thanks to physician perception of its less frequent dosing relative to market leader Lucentis (Roche/Genentech/Novartis).
• Unmet need: Regardless of the incremental delivery benefit offered by Eylea, surveyed U.S. and European retinal specialists indicate that dosing frequency improvements remain an area of moderate to high unmet need in wet AMD.
• Formulary inclusion: Surveyed managed care organization pharmacy directors, however, appear disinclined to include new agents offering once every three months dosing on formulary when priced at a premium to current agents.

Comments from Decision Resources Group Analyst Nadja Rozovsky, Ph.D.:

• "With vision maintained and at times improved in the majority of patients treated with anti-VEGF therapies, interviewed experts highlight the need for new therapies that would yield greater gains in visual acuity, and clinical trial data suggest that the emerging therapy Fovista may partially fulfill this opportunity. Moreover, Decision Resources Group's adaptive choice-based conjoint analysis for wet AMD indicates a high prescribing likelihood among surveyed U.S. retinal specialists for a target product profile similar to that of Fovista."
• "Surveyed U.S. payers do not appear receptive to wet AMD therapies that offer only delivery frequency improvements, yet they are willing to include on formularies wet AMD therapies with lower risk of serious ocular side effects. Future wet AMD therapies offering less-invasive routes of administration, such as Ohr Pharmaceutical's squalamine eye drops, may be clinically differentiated not only on delivery convenience but also on safety by offering a potential reduction in the risk of serious delivery-related ocular side effects."

Upcoming webinar:

• Media members are welcome to attend our upcoming webinar based on this report entitled Emerging Wet AMD Treatments: How Receptive Are Retinal Specialists and Payers to Therapies Offering Greater Dosing Convenience or Vision Improvements? This presentation will be held on Wednesday, March 26, 2014. For more information, please contact Christopher Comfort at [email protected].

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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For more information, contact:

Decision Resources Group
Christopher Comfort
781-993-2597
[email protected]

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SOURCE Decision Resources Group