Psoriasis | Treatment Algorithms | Claims Data Analysis | US | 2015
For the estimated 9.5 million people in the United States who are living with a history of diagnosed psoriasis, there are multiple prescription therapies that are available for treating the mild to severe skin symptoms. The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) provides evidence-based recommendations to guide psoriasis treatment. Treatment recommendations begin with a topical corticosteroid first line and then move on to a vitamin D3 analogue or a fixed-dose combination; later-line therapy patients are prescribed a TNF-α inhibitor or another biologic, or a step-up to combination therapy.
Using national patient-level claims data, this report analyzes physician adherence to the treatment guidelines by exploring the use of key therapies in the newly diagnosed and recently treated psoriasis patient populations. For the newly diagnosed patient category, the report provides a quantitative analysis of treatment patterns and share by line of therapy, as well as progression between lines, duration of treatment on each line, and use of concomitant treatment. For the recently treated patient segment, the report quantifies a drug’s source of business compared with its competitors and details which drugs precede others through an analysis of add-versus-switch patterns. Additional analyses explore persistency and compliance by brand.
