Takeda’s resurrection of the once-rejected Eohilia appears to be paying off, with a survey of physicians finding the launch is in line with the rollout of Dupixent and is delaying the use of Regeneron and Sanofi’s big blockbuster drug.
The FDA rejected Eohilia, which Takeda called TAK-721 during development, in the chronic inflammatory disease eosinophilic esophagitis in 2021. Initially, the Japanese drugmaker seemed to give up on the drug candidate, telling investors it couldn’t justify the additional study needed to win approval but it found a path back in 2023 and won approval in February.
Three months into the launch, Spherix Global Insights surveyed 75 U.S. physicians who treat eosinophilic esophagitis. The survey found trial rates comparable to Dupixent, which won FDA approval in the setting in 2022, at a similar point in its launch. More than half of the physicians had prescribed Eohilia and “the breadth of patient initiations” for Takeda’s drug surpassed that of Dupixent, Spherix said.
Projecting out to six months after launch suggests a user base comparable to that of Dupixent. Spherix expects Takeda’s market share to increase by fourfold. The forecasts reflect the potential for Eohilia to fill a gap in the toolkit for treating eosinophilic esophagitis.
“I have been treating this disease for 15 to 20 years and using topical steroids for most of that time. This is an improvement over what we had, and I am going to use more of it going forward,” a physician told Spherix.
The direct impact on Dupixent is yet to materialize, Spherix said, but most respondents expect Eohilia to delay their use of Regeneron and Sanofi’s blockbuster. Two-fifths of the most recent Eohilia prescriptions would have gone to Dupixent if physicians had lacked access to Takeda’s drug.
While the survey suggests Eohilia has made a solid start, the physician feedback also raises questions about the impact of a key limitation of the drug’s label. Eohilia performed no better than placebo in a 36-week extension study, leading Takeda to focus its filing for approval on 12-week data. The strategy secured approval but with a label that only allows 12 weeks of treatment.
A physician told Spherix they expect the disease to come back if they halt treatment after 12 weeks. To stop that happening, the physician plans to drop the Eohilia dose, from twice to once a day, and continue to prescribe the medicine off-label. The physician will switch to generic budesonide if insurers refuse to cover off-label maintenance therapy.
Source: https://www.fiercepharma.com/marketing/docs-embrace-takedas-eohilia-creating-competition-dupixent
