This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

The number of PML patients (MS sufferers treated with Tysabri) has raised from 145 at the beginning of July to 150 at the beginning of August. One new case is in USA and the next four live in Europe.

Not as high an increase than in previous months but I'm hearing that the number of patients on Tysabri has not been growing and some patients on it for 3 years have been taken off as a precaution to PML.

Also think that Gilenya patient numbers have been on the increase and that may also be cutting into the Tysabri market share.

Harry

Nevertheless, the fact is:
- Global in-market sales of TYSABRI in the second quarter of 2011 were $389 million, an increase of 31% over the second quarter of 2010. The total was comprised of $183 million in U.S. sales and $206 million in sales to markets outside the U.S.
- Second quarter revenues were $1.2 billion, flat compared to the second quarter of 2010. TYSABRI (natalizumab) revenues increased 28% year-over-year to $281 million while AVONEX(R) (interferon beta-1a) revenues increased 5% year-over-year to $659 million. RITUXAN(R) (rituximab) revenues from our unconsolidated joint business arrangement were $216 million for the quarter, down 29% versus prior year. Biogen´s share of RITUXAN revenues from our unconsolidated joint business was reduced by approximately $50 million during the second quarter of 2011 as a result of an accrual relating to an intermediate decision in Genentech, Inc.'s ongoing arbitration with Hoechst GmbH.

Oh Biogen is still making a killing off Tysabri regardless that the level of increase in patients is slowing down. Part of that 28% revenue increase year over year is due to a price hike at the wholesale level. Biogen has more than made up any development costs of this drug and it still remains a cash cow for them. Not nearly as much revenue and market share as they originally anticipated but PML has caused that.

Gilenya is slowly gaining in market share but it isn't without its problems either. It can cause some nasty side effects for patients but those have been showing up immediately and patients don't remain on it if this happens.

Bingo! It´s easy to calculate.
As of the end of June 2010, Biogen Idec had approximately 52,700 patients on therapy, including about 600 in clinical trials. And the company ended the 2nd quarter of 2011 with 61,500 patients, an increase of 2,400 over the last quarter.
Almost ten thousand patients a year is not as good result considering that they sell the most efficient drug on the market. As far as I remember they didn´t meet their ambitious plans to have 100,000 MS patients on Tysabri by the end of 2010...

Yes, while their total numbers are going up slowly, they aren't anywhere near what they had originally predicted. Biogen's ambitious marketing plan was to have 85% of the MS market by now. That number would have been staggering in total number of patients on the drug but PML quickly changed all of that.

I believe that a total of about 75,000 have tried the drug but the drop out rate was somewhere around 14%.

It will be interesting to see what kind of marketing effect the new oral drugs will have on Tysabri. I suspect we'll start to see head to head trials between the orals and Tysabri as the companies battle to sway their market share. Some things never change in the world of MS medicine.

Harry