![]() “In this case Aubagio could be prescribed to patients who are not on interferons yet and who are hesitant to start injections.” consultancy ClearView Healthcare Partners. “Here’s the challenge: convincing patients to start therapy,” said Kevin Richard, co-founder of U.S. ![]() That niche could be found among newly diagnosed patients, since around 35 to 40 percent prefer to take no medication rather than face unwanted side effects. but it could find a niche on the basis of its safety profile,” said Muzard, who is forecasting sales of around 400 million euros in 2018, compared with 2.6 billion for Gilenya. ![]() “Aubagio won’t take a lot of market share. In one recent study, Aubagio failed to show it was better than Rebif, a commonly used injectable interferon from Germany's Merck KGaA MRCG.DE, although it did have milder side effects. Genzyme had projected peak Lemtrada sales of $3.5 billion a year, while Sanofi pitched the number at around $700 million. Lemtrada was the main sticking point in the protracted merger talks between Sanofi and Genzyme and, at the time, Viehbacher’s team was keen to talk down its prospects. Trouble is, there are doubts about both medicines. “It’s pretty unusual for a company to come out with two new products at once, and actually cover the spectrum of the disease,” Sanofi Chief Executive Chris Viehbacher told Reuters. and European markets by the end of the year. If approved, both drugs could end up reaching the U.S. ![]() biotech group Genzyme last year, when it was already developing MS pill Aubagio. Sanofi acquired Lemtrada through its $20.1 billion takeover of U.S. Natixis’ Muzard predicts the French firm’s MS drugs could have peak sales of just 1 billion euros - not enough to plug the gap left by loss of earnings from the arrival of generic competition to its top blood thinner, Plavix. Gilenya and other oral MS treatments in late-stage development such as BG-12 are expected to drive growth in the sector.īut analysts estimate Sanofi will grab only a modest share, given question marks over its drug candidates Aubagio and Lemtrada. But the approval of Gilenya in 2010 introduced a potent new option in pill form. Standard treatment has involved injected drugs such as Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd's TEVA.TA Copaxone, Tysabri - sold by Biogen and Elan Ltd ELAN.UL - and interferons. It is a chronic, often disabling disease that attacks the central nervous system and can lead to numbness, paralysis and loss of vision. MS, which has no cure, affects 2.5 million people worldwide. “Sanofi will remain a small player compared with Biogen or Novartis, but it will still remain on the radar screen,” said Beatrice Muzard, an analyst at brokerage Natixis. Sanofi, which has relied on blood thinners and cancer therapies to drive sales but faces increased competition from generic drug versions, is preparing to submit two MS treatments for approval this year.īut it faces an uphill battle to catch Novartis AG's NOVN.VX Gilenya and Biogen Idec Inc's BIIB.O BG-12, set to dominate a market that JPMorgan analysts see growing to $14 billion (8 billion pound) in 2015 from $9.6 billion last year. Exterior view of the Sanofi Pasteur plant where the influenza A (H1N1) vaccines are produced in Val-du-Rueil near Rouen October 19, 2009.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |