Multiple Sclerosis | Emerging Therapies | Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) | US | Wave 1 | 2015

LaunchTrends®: Lemtrada (US) is a four-wave syndicated report series that specifically tracks the introduction of Lemtrada, a potent, intravenous disease-modifying therapy (DMT) approved for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). This report series is based on primary research data collected at one month, three months, six months, and one year post-commercial availability of Lemtrada. Along with awareness and sources of familiarity, the reports assess U.S. neurologists’ trial, adoption, and usage of Lemtrada, including anticipated future trends. The reports also provide information on product perceptions, satisfaction, obstacles to use, drivers of prescribing, patient types, displacement of competitors, Genzyme’s promotional efforts, and benchmarking against other previously launched MS agents.

Questions Answered:

• Genzyme launched Lemtrada in the U.S. market as a treatment for relapsing forms of MS in December 2014. What is neurologists’ level of awareness and familiarity with Lemtrada over the course of the following year?
• Lemtrada enters an increasingly crowded MS market with ten branded DMT options, four of which have entered in the past five years. What are the perceived clinical advantages and disadvantages of Lemtrada compared to other marketed agents used to treat MS? How is the trial and adoption of Lemtrada tracking compared with other recent product launches in the MS market?
• Because of its safety profile, Lemtrada’s U.S. label recommends that it should generally be reserved for later-line use in the treatment of relapsing forms of MS. Where do neurologists expect Lemtrada to fit in the MS treatment algorithm? What are the current prescribing trends among DMTs, and how do neurologists anticipate they will change over the next six months?
• Lemtrada is Sanofi/Genzyme’s second entrant into the MS market, following the companies’ 2012 launch of Aubagio. What promotional messages and activities are Genzyme employing in support of the Lemtrada launch?

Scope: 

Markets covered: United States.

Primary research: 74 neurologists surveyed per report Wave; 10 qualitative interviews with a subset of survey respondents.

Indication coverage: Relapsing-remitting MS.