Recent Gilenya growth appears to be coming from initial trial among late adopters not expanded use among existing prescribers

After one year on the market, share of Swiss drug major Novartis’ (NOVN: VX) Gilenya (fingolimod), the only oral disease-modifying agent (DMA) for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS), continues to increase, although not significantly, compared to six months ago, notes a new study by BioTrends Research (a Decision Resources unit).

Most of the recent uptake appears to be the result of significant growth in the Gilenya prescriber base versus increased adoption by existing prescribers. In fact, at one year post-launch, while 79% of neurologists report having initiated a Gilenya trial (compared to 65 percent six months ago), these neurologists are only treating an average of 7 patients with Gilenya — down from 8 patients per neurologist at six months post-launch. While neurologists have thought of Gilenya as a second line or later DMA since launch and continue to perceive the product this way, there was initially a number of DMA-naive, needle-phobic patients started on Gilenya solely because of its oral formulation.

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