Pediatric Crohn’s Disease | Current Treatment | Physician Insights | US | 2017
MARKET OUTLOOK
Conventional agents (e.g., immunosuppressants, 5-ASAs) have long been used to treat pediatric Crohn’s disease (CD). Among the TNF-α inhibitors, Janssen/Merck’s Remicade and AbbVie/Eisai’s Humira are the most commonly used biologics in moderate to severe pediatric CD. The recent launch of biosimilar infliximab (i.e., Pfizer’s Inflectra), which has labeling for pediatric CD, could possibly impact the treatment landscape, particularly during an era when payers increasingly take measures to control drug costs. The newer drugs (i.e., Takeda’s Entyvio and Janssen’s Stelara), approved for adult CD, offer alternative treatment options, especially for TNF-α refractory patients; however, these drugs are not approved in pediatric CD. Still, given the limited treatment options for pediatric CD patients who fail TNF-α inhibitors, physicians may turn to these novel therapies for some patients. Indeed, the availability of these newer agents will likely make the treatment landscape more complex.
QUESTIONS ANSWERED
- What factors primarily influence pediatric gastroenterologists’ treatment decisions in pediatric CD?
- What drug classes are the patient-share leaders across different lines of therapy and different disease severity levels?
- What are the common therapies prior to the initiation of biological agents? Among biologic-treated patients, what is physicians’ preferred first-line and second-line agent? What are the common courses of action upon discontinuing the different biological agents?
- What are the factors that drive therapy switch/discontinuation?
