Medical Marketing & Media | Deborah Weinstein
Longtime mega-blockbuster Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate) has gone to the
branded drug beyond. The Bristol-Myers Squibb brand, far and away the No. 1
anti-platelet drug in the US from 2007 through 2011 and briefly the successor
to Lipitor as biggest of all blockbusters, lost patent exclusivity Thursday.
Plavix raked in $27.2 billion in US sales alone over the past five years,
so you might expect wailing and rending of garments from investors, but
analysts aren't sweating it. Bernstein's Tim Anderson said in a March report
that the impact will be mitigated, in part, by new drugs. “BMS is, far and
away, the company that will have the biggest revenue contribution from new
pipeline drugs through 2016,” said Anderson.
Business intelligence firm The Zitter Group's Managed Care Message
Monitor shows “more messages for [AstraZeneca's Brilinta] than for any
other product currently approved for acute coronary syndrome (64% of messages captured
in the anticoagulant category), with a clear claim of superiority over Plavix,”
in patients with acute coronary syndrome, along with quicker onset of action,
they wrote. “Further competitive messaging is focused on Effient as a direct
competitor, stressing the fact that Brilinta has a more favorable safety
profile, while highlighting bleeding risks seen with Daiichi Sankyo's product.”
Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo's "Effient messaging also claims superior
efficacy and safety to Plavix, with particular emphasis on the former product's
effectiveness following stent insertion surgery,” said Zitter. “Both
AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo are touting their superiority to Plavix, but
Brilinta messaging is also competitive towards Effient.”
Johnson & Johnson's Xarelto (rivaroxaban) is not officially a Plavix
competitor—the FDA hasn't cleared it for the same indication, although it's
currently awaiting approval for use in reducing the risk of new heart attacks
and stroke, as well as clots, in patients with acute coronary syndrome. Zitter
says J&J's roundabout approach talks up how Xarelto compares to warfarin
for atrial fibrillation and stroke prevention, while stressing its more
convenient dosing compared to Boehringer Ingelheim's Pradaxa. Boehringer is
trumpeting Pradaxa's superiority in efficacy over Xarelto.
Note: The initial version of this post incorrectly said Zitter's MCMM
data has been logged since 2001. In fact, it covers only the past six months.
We also wrongly said 46% of Brilinta's messaging compared the AZ product to
Plavix—rather, 64% of messages captured in the anticoagulant category concerned
Brilinta.