Results from a survey fielded ahead of the commercial launch of Dificid (fidaxomicin) find that infectious disease specialists estimate that one-third of their C. difficile infection patients with severe or severe/complicated disease are likely candidates for Dificid treatment
September 12, 2011—Exton, Penn.— Arlington Medical Resources (AMR) and BioTrends Research Group find that less than half of surveyed infectious disease (ID) specialists and only 6 percent of surveyed internists demonstrated unaided awareness of and familiarity with Dificid prior to its U.S. launch in mid-July. In
LaunchTrends®Institutional: Dificid, AMR and BioTrends surveyed 100 U.S. ID specialists and internists about their current treatment practices for C. difficile infection (CDI) as well as their awareness, perceptions, and anticipated future use of Dificid. In addition, feedback around patient types, product profile, and obstacles to use is captured.
Not surprisingly, Dificid’s sustained clinical response rate at 25 days following end of treatment is regarded by physicians as the drug’s most significant advantage in the treatment of CDI. However, the cost of Dificid ($2,800 for a 10-day course) comes as a surprise to most surveyed physicians and is regarded as the most significant obstacle to the drug’s use, including use in patients at hospital discharge and those in nursing home and long-term care facilities. Results from the study find that physicians are split regarding whether or not the cost of a 10-day course of Dificid outweighs its advantages.
“Early use of Dificid will likely be limited to patients with severe or severe/complicated disease and those experiencing recurrent, recalcitrant, or resistant infection.” said AMR’s Vice President of Research Danielle L. Drayton, Ph.D. “The cost of the drug is clearly seen by physicians as a barrier to use in the outpatient setting and in patients with their first episode of mild infection for which physicians prefer to begin treatment with less expensive and more established options.”
The study also finds that oral vancomycin is the therapy most likely to be displaced by Dificid. However, the practice of compounding IV-based vancomycin for oral delivery will be a key barrier to Dificid replacement of vancomycin. Compounded IV-based vancomycin for oral delivery effectively represents generic vancomycin competition in the CDI market. Physicians report that use of IV-based vancomycin is common in their hospital and more often than not, their hospital’s pharmacy automatically compounds IV vancomycin for oral delivery.
About LaunchTrends Institutional
LaunchTrends® Institutional: Dificid is a series of four syndicated reports designed to track perceptions and anticipated use of Optimer/Cubist’s Dificid at pre-launch and uptake of the drug three months, six months, and twelve months following launch. LaunchTrends® Institutional assesses trial and use of new products, barriers to use, reasons to use, typical patient types, line of therapy, product perceptions, promotional efforts/messages, and product satisfaction.
About Arlington Medical Resources, LLC
AMR (
www.AMR-data.com) serves the market intelligence needs of the pharmaceutical and diagnostic imaging industries. Research includes clinical inpatient databases that directly link anti-infective drug with indication/procedure, formulary and stocking status tracking studies, drug purchasing audits and diagnostic imaging procedure volume/contrast media usage audits. AMR is a Decision Resources Group company.
About BioTrends Research Group, LLC
BioTrends Research Group, LLC provides syndicated and custom market research to pharmaceutical manufacturers competing in clinically evolving, specialty pharmaceutical markets. For information on BioTrends publications and research capabilities, please contact us at (610) 363-3872 or
www.bio-trends.com. BioTrends is a Decision Resources Group company.
About Decision Resources Group
Decision Resources Group is a cohesive portfolio of companies that offers best-in-class, high-value information and insights on important sectors of the healthcare industry. Clients rely on this analysis and data to make informed decisions. Please visit Decision Resources Group at
www.DecisionResourcesGroup.com.
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