Surveyed Gastroenterologists Indicate That Humira Has Advantages Over Remicade in Maintaining Clinical Remission of Crohn’s Disease

Humira Will Retain its Status as Decision Resources’ Clinical Gold Standard for Crohn’s Disease Through 2017, According to a New Report from Decision Resources

WALTHAM, Mass., Jan. 26, /PRNewswire/ – Decision Resources, one of the world’s leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that surveyed gastroenterologists say that a therapy’s effect on maintenance of clinical remission is the attribute that most influences their choice in prescribing a maintenance therapy to prevent relapses of Crohn’s disease. Clinical data and the opinions of interviewed thought leaders indicate that Abbott/Eisai’s Humira has advantages in this attribute over Centocor/Schering-Plough/Mitsubishi Tanabe’s Remicade, the sales-leading agent in the market.

The new report entitled Crohn’s Disease: Maintenance of Clinical Remission is a Key Challenge and a Large Commercial Opportunity finds that a biological therapy with a novel mechanism of action for the treatment of moderate to severe Crohn’s disease would earn a 40 percent patient share in the United States and a 20 percent patient share in Europe, according to surveyed U.S. and European gastroenterologists. The report finds that Humira, Decision Resources’ proprietary clinical gold standard for Crohn’s disease in 2007, will remain so for the indication through 2017. Humira will maintain its clinical gold standard status owing to its superiority in maintaining clinical remission, its ability to improve patients’ quality of life and its superior safety and tolerability when compared to Remicade.

“Physicians report a high level of comfort with Remicade, owing to its tenure in the Crohn’s disease market,” said Decision Resources Analyst Benjamin Guikema, Ph.D. “However, Humira ranked higher in our survey owing to its self-administered, subcutaneous injection as compared to Remicade which is delivered by intravenous infusion, requiring a patient visit to a hospital or doctor’s office.”

About the Report

Crohn’s Disease: Maintenance of Clinical Remission is a Key Challenge and a Large Commercial Opportunity is a DecisionBase 2009 report. DecisionBase 2009 is a decision-support tool that provides in-depth analysis of unmet need, physician expectations of new therapies and commercial dynamics to help pharmaceutical companies optimize their investments in drug development.

The report can be purchased by contacting Decision Resources. Members of the media may request an interview with an analyst.

About Decision Resources

Decision Resources (www.decisionresources.com) is a world leader in market research publications, advisory services and consulting designed to help clients shape strategy, allocate resources and master their chosen markets. Decision Resources is a Decision Resources, Inc. company.

About Decision Resources, Inc.

Decision Resources, Inc. is a cohesive portfolio of companies that offers best-in-class, high-value information and insights on important sectors of the healthcare industry. Clients rely on this analysis and data to make informed decisions. Please visit Decision Resources, Inc. at www.DecisionResourcesInc.com.

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    Decision Resources                              Decision Resources, Inc.
    Christopher Comfort                             Elizabeth Marshall
    781-296-2597                                    781-296-2563
    ccomfort@dresources.com                         emarshall@dresources.com

SOURCE Decision Resources