After seven months on the market, Regeneron’s Eylea HD is already making strides with ophthalmologists.
According to Spherix Global Insights’ research, 81% of ophthalmologists who use Eylea HD to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are “highly satisfied,” which tracks closely to the 87% who say the same about Roche and Genentech’s Vabysmo, which has been on the market for about 25 months.
The new Eylea 8 mg high-dose satisfaction rate was also similar to the 80% satisfaction rate in the Q1 survey for its 2 mg sibling drug Eylea, which has been on the market for more than 12 years.
“There is a substantial amount of affinity for [the original] Eylea, so I think that’s the thing that really pushed Eylea HD up to that high satisfaction level so soon,” said Kristen Buckley, Spherix’s associate insights director in ophthalmology.
The original Eylea maintains the leading brand share at 38%, as self-reported by the eye specialists. Vabysmo held a 13.5% share, while Eylea HD had a 3.8% share.
However, when the ophthalmologists were asked to project market share out six months, Eylea dropped to 29.5%, Vabysmo increased to 18%, and Eylea HD jumped to 13%.
“In qualitative interviews, I’ll ask physicians how they’re making the decision, and it’s not a coin toss, but it is 50/50 sometimes,” Buckley said. “Physicians do say there’s enough room for both of them, but just where that room is, is a bit undecided at the moment.”
Eylea also leads in sales with $5.7 billion reported in 2023, trailed by $166 million for Eylea HD on just a few months of sales after its FDA approval in August 2023. Roche reported Vabysmo sales of 2.36 billion CHF ($2.52 billion) for 2023.
While the specialists may not agree on why they prescribe one drug over the other, they do agree on how they feel about DTC advertising for the specialty eye treatments. Ophthalmologists are “all pretty anti-DTC” because it drives patients to ask them for medicines they’re not candidates for, Buckley said.
“I actually had respondents specifically say in the Q1 survey that they hope they don’t come out with a DTC ad for Eylea HD,” she said.
Regeneron’s Eylea HD campaign debuted near the end of March.
Source: EndPoints News: https://endpts.com/regeneron-and-genentech-battle-for-ophthalmologists-affinity-in-eylea-hd-vabysmo-match-up/
