A Higher Percentage of Surveyed Physicians Than Surveyed MCO Pharmacy Directors Select Advair/Seretide/Adoair as the Most

Surveyed Physicians Who Identified Advair/Seretide/Adoair or Symbicort As the Most Efficacious Asthma Therapy Indicate High Levels of Satisfaction Across All Efficacy Attributes, According to Findings from Decision Resources

BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Decision Resources, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that a notably higher percentage of surveyed physicians (68 percent) than surveyed managed care organizations pharmacy directors (MCO) (45 percent) select GlaxoSmithKline’s Advair/Seretide/Adoair (salmeterol/fluticasone propionate) as the most efficacious therapy for the treatment of asthma. The lower percentage of surveyed MCO pharmacy directors selecting Advair/Seretide/Adoair may reflect payers’ lower level of familiarity with asthma maintenance treatment and/or their misreading of the emphasis that treatment guidelines have placed on single-agent inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs) as the optimal first-line therapy.

The findings from Decision Resources’ analysis of the asthma drug market reveal that surveyed physicians who identified Advair/Seretide/Adoair or AstraZeneca/Astellas’s Symbicort (formoterol/budesonide) as the most efficacious asthma therapy indicate high levels of satisfaction across all efficacy attributes for these combination therapies.

The findings also reveal that payers who selected GlaxoSmithKline’s Flovent/Flixotide/Flutide (fluticasone propionate) as the most efficacious therapy reported higher levels of satisfaction across all efficacy attributes, relative to payers who selected Symbicort. Although both clinical data and interviewed thought leaders indicate that LABA/ICS combinations offer efficacy superior to that of single-agent ICSs across all efficacy attributes, Flovent/Flixotide/Flutide generally occupies the same formulary tier as LABA/ICS combinations in commercial and Medicare plans because the agent is less expensive and is adequate for providing disease control in many persistent asthmatics.

“The disparity between payer-assigned satisfaction for fluticasone propionate and formoterol/budesonide speaks to payers’ more limited familiarity with clinical data relative to that of primary care physicians,” said Decision Resources Analyst Martin Quinn. “This finding indicates an opportunity for drug developers to communicate the evidence-based benefits of combinations to decision makers in managed care.”

Multiple factors will constrain the asthma market over the next decade as generic and/or branded-generic price erosion, increased product competition and restrictive reimbursement environments will temper major-market sales. As a result, the asthma drug market will decrease from $13.4 billion in 2009 to $12.6 billion in 2019 in the United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom and Japan. The principal driver of the eroding sales in asthma will be the loss of brand exclusivity of Merck/Kyorin’s Singulair (montelukast) upon entry of generic versions of the drug, beginning in the U.S. and European markets in 2012.

Decision Resources’ Robust Market Forecast and Opportunities Analysis

Decision Resources provides a comprehensive view of what is happening in a specific drug market now and in the decade ahead. The research includes analysis of the unmet need and near-term drug development opportunities that exist within a drug market powered by primary research from physicians and payers. The robust market forecast and opportunities analysis is comprised of the Pharmacor 2011 advisory service and the DecisionBase 2011 report series.

About Decision Resources

Decision Resources (www.decisionresources.com) is a world leader in market research publications, advisory services and consulting designed to help clients shape strategy, allocate resources and master their chosen markets. Decision Resources is a Decision Resources, Inc. company.

About Decision Resources, Inc.

Decision Resources, Inc. 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, Inc. at www.DecisionResourcesInc.com.

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CONTACT:

Decision Resources, Inc.
Christopher Comfort, 781-993-2597
[email protected]

KEYWORDS:   United States  North America  Massachusetts

INDUSTRY KEYWORDS:   Health  Biotechnology  Hospitals  Pharmaceutical  General Health  Managed Care

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