Antipsychotics are the standard of care for treating schizophrenia, with oral atypical antipsychotics (e.g., olanzapine, risperidone) experiencing preferential use. Because of the heterogeneity of schizophrenia and patients’ varied response to antipsychotics, the treatment of the disease is highly individualized and psychiatrists consider multiple factors (e.g., tolerability, compliance) when making treatment choices. As a result, both depot and oral formulations of antipsychotics are prescribed by EU5 psychiatrists, such as the branded depot atypical antipsychotics Abilify Maintena, Risperdal Consta, Trevicta, and Xeplion. Given the highly crowded and competitive schizophrenia landscape, it is necessary for marketers of current branded therapies, as well as developers of emerging schizophrenia therapies, to understand the many decision points and challenges psychiatrists face when treating this disease. The Current Treatment EU5 content provides a detailed snapshot of how EU5 psychiatrists are managing their patients with schizophrenia, including the use of atypical and typical antipsychotics, as well as insight into the factors driving such prescribing habits.
Questions answered
Prompt treatment of schizophrenia is recommended due to the negative impact of symptoms on a patient’s quality of life. How quickly do psychiatrists initiate their schizophrenia patients on pharmacotherapies and what percentage of patients are drug treated? Do treatment rates differ across the EU5 countries?
Even though generically available oral atypical antipsychotics dominate the EU5 market, depot oral atypical antipsychotics also experience use within the schizophrenia treatment paradigm. What is the patient share for individual antipsychotics, including the branded oral therapies Invega and Latuda? How are depots, such as Abilify Maintena, currently being used by psychiatrists? How does treatment differ across each line of therapy?
Given that schizophrenia treatment is highly individualized, psychiatrists may consider multiple factors when initiating pharmacotherapies. What are the most important clinical and nonclinical factors that drive prescribing of antipsychotics? What drives switching to and from specific brands? What obstacles constrain use of branded therapies?
CIAS and negative symptoms are not as frequently diagnosed as positive symptoms; however, these two symptom domains greatly hinder schizophrenia patients’ QOL. What percentage of patients in each of the EU5 countries presents with CIAS, and/or negative symptoms? How are physicians currently managing these patients?
Scope:
Markets covered: EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom)
Methodology: Survey of 257 psychiatrists in the EU5 (56 in France, 50 in Germany, 50 in Italy, 51 in Spain, and 50 in the United Kingdom), completed in January 2017