Launch of Biotie/Lundbeck's Selincro will see a paradigm shift in alcohol addiction market

US and European psychiatrists and US managed care organization (MCO) pharmacy directors surveyed by advisory firm Decision Resources agree that a therapy's ability to support abstinence is one of the attributes that most influences their decisions regarding prescribing and formulary status determinations, respectively, in the treatment of alcohol addiction.

Historically, therapies for alcohol addiction have been indicated for the support of abstinence - however, Finland-based Biotie (Nasdaq-OMX; BTH1V) and Lundbeck's (LUND: C) Selincro (nalmefene) recently received approval from the European Medicines Agency for reducing alcohol consumption in adult alcohol-dependent patients who have a high level of alcohol consumption, and marketers are hopeful that physicians will accept harm reduction as a meaningful treatment goal in Europe.

The DecisionBase 2013 report - titled Alcohol Addiction: How Would a Harm Reduction Treatment Paradigm Be Received by Physicians? - also finds that surveyed US psychiatrists indicated that they would prescribe Alkermes' samidophan to 25% of their patients with alcohol addiction, if it were to proceed in development and launch for alcohol addiction in the USA.