Biogen's Vumerity set to gain market share in Europe, says analyst

Following the recent news that Biogen’s (Nasdaq: BIIB) Vumerity (diroximel fumarate) was granted marketing authorization by the European Commission for the treatment of adults with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), GlobalData, a data and analytics company GlobalData expects Vumerity to claim market share in Europe both from new RRMS patients starting on an oral fumarate treatment, as well as those who cannot tolerate the gastrointestinal side effects of its predecessor, Tecfidera. As such, Vumerity will likely have moderate, yet significant uptake globally, likely reaching blockbuster status by 2027.

GlobalData’s neurology analyst Sarah Elsayed commented: “This approval comes just in time to help Biogen offset anticipated sales erosion in the multiple sclerosis (MS) space as the company’s blockbuster drug, Tecfidera (dimethyl fumarate), approaches loss of patent protection in the European markets in 2024.”

Having demonstrated more favorable gastrointestinal (GI) tolerability and comparable efficacy to that of Biogen’s Tecfidera, Vumerity was first approved in the USA in October 2019. Recently, several cost-effective generic versions of Tecfidera became available in the US market following the drug’s patent expiry in 2020.