FDAnews Drug Daily Bulletin

Despite gaining market share, sales of Roche’s hepatitis C treatment Pegasys declined as fewer patients sought commercial treatments and waited to enroll in clinical trials for newer medicines, contributing to weakness in the U.S. market, according to a Roche executive.

“The market is, you could say, at best stable, but actually I think it’s drifting downwards gently in the number of patients that are coming forward for treatment,” William Burns, CEO of Roche’s pharmaceuticals division, said during the firm’s first quarter earnings call.

Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) had sales of $79 million in the U.S. during the first quarter, a decline of 10 percent when compared with the same period last year. Pegasys’ market share increased to 65 percent during the quarter.

According to Burns, results from Schering-Plough’s IDEAL study may benefit Roche. The trial compared Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) and Roche’s Copegus (ribavirin) with Schering-Plough’s competing regimen Pegintron (peginterferon alfa-2b) and Rebetol (ribavirin).

Results from the study found sustained virologic responses were similar for the combination therapies. “The so-called IDEAL study, from Schering-Plough … showed that it was more ideal for Roche than it was for Schering-Plough,” Burns remarked. “Frankly, we’re in great shape coming out of that.”