Asthma | Treatment Algorithms | Claims Data Analysis | US | 2014
With a large and growing patient population, asthma is one of the most lucrative drug markets in the pharmaceutical industry. Maintenance treatments for persistent asthma include inhaled corticosteroids (ICSs), which act as anti-inflammatory agents in the lungs and bronchodilators; and long-acting beta2 agonists (LABAs), which ease airway bronchoconstriction. Among the blockbuster drugs in this market are the LABA/ICS fixed-dose combinations, which combine both drug mechanisms into one convenient inhaler.
This report uses national patient-level claims data to explore the position of the leading maintenance therapies in the treatment of newly diagnosed asthma patients with 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. The report also quantifies a drug’s source of business among recently treated asthma patients 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.