[November 26, 2012]

Novartis's Lucentis Captures Two-Thirds of Wet AMD Patient Share in Europe Driven by Strong First-Line Preference among Retinal Specialists, According to a Recent BioTrends Report

BioTrends Research Group, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for specialized biopharmaceutical issues, finds that retinal specialists in the EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) treat 66 percent of intravitreal-pharmaceutically-treated wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD (News - Alert)) patients with Novartis's Lucentis and 27 percent of patients with Genentech / Roche's Avastin. TreatmentTrends^®: Age-Related Macular Degeneration in the EU also finds that three-quarters of surveyed retinal specialists consider Lucentis to be their preferred first-line therapy for wet AMD, with prescribing being driven by high overall satisfaction with the agent and positive perceptions across efficacy-, safety-, tolerability-, convenience- and company support-related attributes. In contrast to this preference for Lucentis in the EU5, data published in the recent parallel U.S. report finds that, although not FDA approved for the treatment of wet AMD, Avastin is the intravitreal pharmacotherapy with the strongest first-line preference and greatest wet AMD patient share (63 percent), with Lucentis capturing 23 percent patient share.

Given the positive recommendation by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) for the approval of Bayer's aflibercept (VEGF Trap-Eye) for the treatment of wet AMD during study fielding, it is interesting to note that 69 percent of retinal specialists who report unaided awareness of products in development for wet AMD specifically mention aflibercept. Furthermore, 85 percent of retinal specialists report aided awareness of aflibecept, significantly more than those aware of other surveyed products in development for wet AMD, including Ophthotech's Fovista, GlaxoSmithKline's pazopanib and Ohr Pharmaceutical's squalamine. This relatively higher awareness around aflibercept is likely due to the fact that aflibercept has been commercially available in the U.S. since 2011, where it is marketed by Regeneron as Eylea^® for the treatment of wet AMD. Assuming commercial availability of aflibercept in the current market, retinal specialists consider 42 percent of their current wet AMD patients to be likely candidates for the product, with the greatest percent of potential patients being either treatment-naïve or switched from Lucentis. Indeed, retinal specialists anticipate administering aflibercept to ten percent of their intravitreal-pharmaceutically-treated wet AMD patients over the next six months, pulling directly from Lucentis patient share, which is expected to contract significantly.

TreatmentTrends^®: AMD in the EU is an annual syndicated primary market research report series that provides a comprehensive view of the current and expected future management of AMD, with a focus on wet AMD, in the EU5. The survey was fielded in September and October 2012 with 220+ retinal specialists. A parallel report covering the US market is also available. These reports cover the use of treatment approaches and pharmacotherapy agents for the treatment of dry and wet AMD, as well as attitudes and perceptions toward these products, advantages and disadvantages, ideal patient types, barriers to growth, and expected future use. In addition, respondents were queried about their awareness of and interest in products in development for the treatment of dry AMD or wet AMD. An additional series of pre-launch questions were also included to assess the potential market opportunity for aflibercept.

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 contact us at (610) 321-9400 or www.bio-trends.com. BioTrends 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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