European prescribing attitudes for rheumatoid arthritis post-ADACTA

28 October 2013

Results from the ADACTA trial, which showed that Swiss drug major Roche’s (ROG: SIX) RoActemra (tocilizumab) is superior to AbbVie’s (NYSE: ABBV) Humira (adalimumab) as a monotherapy in biologics-naive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients (The Pharma Letter March 18), have resulted in a modest to substantial increase in prescribing of RoActemra.

RoActemra prescribing increased by 43% to 60% of surveyed rheumatologists across the EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK), according to a new report from health care advisory firm Decision Resources. In addition, 22% to 44% of respondents consider RoActemra more effective than Bristol Myers Squibb’s Orencia (abatacept) or Roche’s MabThera (rituximab).

Importance of head-to-head data

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