Incivek versus Victrelis in hepatitis C virus treatment: US physician views

For the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV), the majority of surveyed US physicians  survey by advisory company Decision Resources who prescribe the Vertex (Nasdaq: VRTX) protease inhibitor Incivek (telaprevir) more often than the protease inhibitor Victrelis (boceprevir) from Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) and Roche (ROG: SIX) perceive Incivek as offering a short, simple treatment duration and superior efficacy.

Similarly, surveyed managed care organizations’ (MCOs) pharmacy directors indicate that Incivek’s efficacy is the key driver of formulary inclusion. Physicians’ perception for sustained virologic response (SVR) as a key driver of prescribing for Incivek may suggest that emerging therapies with a higher SVR rate are likely to take patient share from Incivek unless they fall significantly short on other attributes such as safety or convenience.

The new US Physician & Payer Forum report, titled A New Era in the Treatment of Hepatitis C Virus: What Market Access Hurdles Are US Payers Erecting and How Are Physicians Responding? also finds that more surveyed physicians report that their HCV patients request treatment with Incivek over Victrelis. Although most surveyed physicians report that their HCV patients have not requested treatment with a specific protease inhibitor, requests for Incivek are more common than requests for Victrelis among physicians whose patients request a specific protease inhibitor.