There are signs Bimzelx is affecting the psoriatic arthritis market.
UCB’s Bimzelx is firmly on physicians’ radars, with Spherix Global Insights finding that awareness of the drug was tracking ahead of AbbVie’s Rinvoq and Skyrizi three months into its psoriatic arthritis (PsA) launch. Yet, the analysis suggests UCB has work to do to turn awareness into uptake.
The FDA approved Bimzelx, an IL-17A/IL-17F inhibitor, for use in active PsA in September 2024, adding to the authorization that UCB secured in plaque psoriasis 11 months earlier. Last month, Spherix surveyed 74 rheumatologists to gauge how the PsA launch was going. The market intelligence company found half of the physicians had trialed Bimzelx in PsA.
Spherix compared the level of activity favorably to other launches, noting that awareness levels were higher for Bimzelx than for Rinvoq and Skyrizi and Johnson & Johnson’s Tremfya at the same point in their respective PsA launches. The three Bimzelx rivals are blockbusters, although PsA only accounts for some of their sales.
The good news for UCB continued with the finding that rheumatologists rated Bimzelx more favorably than its analogs in terms of perceived advancement, satisfaction and patient candidacy.
Still, the positive early signs are yet to translate into above-average uptake of the drug. Spherix found adoption metrics such as prescriber base and average number of PsA patients initiated are currently on par with or trailing those of benchmarked analogs. AbbVie’s Rinvoq saw the highest use at the three-month post-launch mark in PsA.
Even so, there are signs Bimzelx is affecting the PsA market. Attracted by the perceived efficacy of the drug’s unique dual mechanism, rheumatologists are trialing Bimzelx in patients who were previously on other systemic therapies. A significant portion of patients are switching from TNF inhibitors, Spherix said, but there is also a notable number of people moving over from Novartis’ Cosentyx and Eli Lilly’s Taltz.
Cosentyx and Taltz only target IL-17A, unlike the dual-mechanism Bimzelx. One rheumatologist said UCB’s drug “should work better than Cosentyx” based on the dual mechanism, but it is too early to tell clinically. Overall, rheumatologists with clinical experience of all three drugs said Bimzelx has an edge in terms of efficacy and data.
Spherix’s broader study of the PsA market, which analyzed responses from 109 U.S. rheumatologists in the fourth quarter of 2024, suggested the IL-17 class is gaining ground, as the mechanism surpassed TNF inhibitors as the most-favored mechanism for the first time. Cosentyx is the top IL-17 therapy, Spherix said, and that position helped Novartis grow (PDF) sales of the drug by 25% last year.
An analyst asked Novartis about Bimzelx on an earnings call late last month, questioning whether UCB’s “recent formulary wins” and hidradenitis suppurativa approval were affecting Cosentyx. In response, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan, M.D., said, “We’ve had to give the appropriate level of adjustments on our rebates, but we’ve maintained [a] very good formulary position,” adding that the company is bullish on hidradenitis suppurativa.
“We think our profile of having very good flare resolution, where we showed very compelling data on flare, on pain, I think on itch, … really gives us a very compelling dataset. And, given the long history of safety with Cosentyx, we think a very competitive profile to hopefully maintain that 60%-plus [new-to-brand prescription] share that we have,” Narasimhan said.
Source: Fierce Pharma: www.fiercepharma.com/marketing/ucbs-bimzelx-outpacing-abbvies-rinvoq-skyrizi-awareness-early-launch-survey
