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More Patients Receive Diovan As A First- Or Second-Line Therapy Compared With Cozaar or Avapro
The new report entitled Treatment Algorithms in Hypertension also finds that 24.2 percent of patients starting Novartis' Exforge, which combines Diovan with amlodipine in a fixed-dose combination, previously received Diovan or the Diovan/diuretic fixed-dose combination Diovan HCT.
Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms focusing on pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that use of Novartis' Diovan in earlier lines of therapy compared with Merck's Cozaar is influenced by physician perception that the former is more effective and affordable for patients. Thirty-nine percent of surveyed cardiologists and 45 percent of surveyed PCPs consider Diovan superior to Cozaar in reducing systolic blood pressure. Twenty-nine percent of surveyed cardiologists and 38 percent of surveyed PCPs point to Diovan's lower cost--compared with Cozaar--as a reason to choose the agent. However, a sizeable group of surveyed physicians (30 percent of surveyed cardiologists and 28 percent of surveyed PCPs) view both agents as equivalent.
"Physicians have multiple generic options to choose from in first- and second-line treatment, including diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, calcium channel blockers and beta blockers. Nonetheless, we find that approximately half (51.7 percent) of the patients who were prescribed Diovan take the drug as a first- or second-line treatment, which allots a higher percentage of this agent's use to early lines of therapy compared with either Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi-Aventis' Avapro or Cozaar. Surveyed physicians' responses suggest that Novartis' investment in clinical trials and formulary negotiations has helped Diovan gain some ground in the competitive AIIRA space," said Madhuri Borde, Ph.D., analyst at Decision Resources.
The new report entitled Treatment Algorithms in Hypertension also finds that 24.2 percent of patients starting Novartis' Exforge, which combines Diovan with amlodipine in a fixed-dose combination, previously received Diovan or the Diovan/diuretic fixed-dose combination Diovan HCT. A further 18.5 percent of patients moving to Exforge had been prescribed a calcium channel inhibitor in the previous line, indicating that fixed-dose combinations are keenly dependent on the penetration of their single-agent components as an access point.
"The unique data in the Treatment Algorithms in Hypertension report allows brand managers to accurately quantify the percentage of patients moving from first line to second line, the length of time patients are on a therapy before switching and the number of patients dropping therapy versus adding on," said Dr. Borde. "Each of these metrics is critical to building an accurate model of how patients move between therapies and is key in better estimating the potential pool of consumers."