Physician Views: Key Developments in the European Diabetes Market - Will Endocrinologists Embrace Tresiba and Forxiga? - Both Rejected by the FDA
European-based endocrinologists are currently getting to grips with two new products that have been rejected for approval in the US market. Novo Nordisk’s long-acting basal insulin Tresiba – a potential competitor to Sanofi’s market leading Lantus franchise – and AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s SGLT-2 inhibitor Forxiga.
Assessing how European physicians perceive these products is important. In the case of Tresiba, analysts are bullish that Novo Nordisk’s franchise can still generate blockbuster revenues based on its performance in ex-US markets, the key implication (from a commercial perspective) being how this will impact sales of Sanofi’s Lantus, the potential launch of its follow-up product Lantus U300 and Eli Lilly’s own investments in the long-acting basal insulin market. See ViewPoints: Sanofi's 'mega brand' Lantus the key beneficiary of Novo Nordisk's degludec setback.
In the case of Forxiga, AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb are expected to resubmit the drug to the FDA later this year. Another SGLT-2 inhibitor – Johnson & Johnson’s Invokana – has launched in the US market and performed more robustly than analysts had anticipated - see ViewPoints: Have analysts undervalued the SGLT-2 diabetes drug class? and Physician Views poll results: Endocrinologists increasingly less concerned about DPP-4/GLP-1 safety risk/Impressed with Johnson & Johnson's Invokana.
Early perception towards Forxiga is thus important on two fronts; can AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s product emerge as a key player in the European SGLT-2 market (and potentially in the US market) and is there any indication that the SGLT-2 market in Europe can develop similarly to the US; where Invokana has been submitted to the European Medicines Agency but has yet to be approved.
This week's Physician Views poll will specifically ask endocrinologists based in the 5EU countries:
Assessing how European physicians perceive these products is important. In the case of Tresiba, analysts are bullish that Novo Nordisk’s franchise can still generate blockbuster revenues based on its performance in ex-US markets, the key implication (from a commercial perspective) being how this will impact sales of Sanofi’s Lantus, the potential launch of its follow-up product Lantus U300 and Eli Lilly’s own investments in the long-acting basal insulin market. See ViewPoints: Sanofi's 'mega brand' Lantus the key beneficiary of Novo Nordisk's degludec setback.
In the case of Forxiga, AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb are expected to resubmit the drug to the FDA later this year. Another SGLT-2 inhibitor – Johnson & Johnson’s Invokana – has launched in the US market and performed more robustly than analysts had anticipated - see ViewPoints: Have analysts undervalued the SGLT-2 diabetes drug class? and Physician Views poll results: Endocrinologists increasingly less concerned about DPP-4/GLP-1 safety risk/Impressed with Johnson & Johnson's Invokana.
Early perception towards Forxiga is thus important on two fronts; can AstraZeneca and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s product emerge as a key player in the European SGLT-2 market (and potentially in the US market) and is there any indication that the SGLT-2 market in Europe can develop similarly to the US; where Invokana has been submitted to the European Medicines Agency but has yet to be approved.
This week's Physician Views poll will specifically ask endocrinologists based in the 5EU countries:
- To what percentage of eligible patients they anticipate prescribing Tresiba to in a year’s time?
- Whether the FDA’s decision not to approve Tresiba (pending data from a cardiovascular outcomes study) will have any impact on your own prescribing of the product?
- How endocrinologists describe their initial usage of Forxiga
- To what percentage of total diabetes patients they expect to be prescribing SGLT-2 inhibitors to in two years time?
- Based on usage to date where they believe the most likely to use SGLT-2 inhibitors within the treatment paradigm?
