Pharmacor

May 2009

Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Report Authors
Andrew Merron, Ph.D.
Alison Mathewson, M.Sc., Ph.D.
Rachel Webster, M.Sc., Ph.D.
  • Pages:219
  • Tables:40
  • Figures:6
  • Citations:196
  • Drugs:62
  • Interviews:22

Introduction:

The group of bone marrow disorders known as myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) is a niche indication with few approved therapies. Approval of azacitidine (Celgene’s Vidaza), decitabine (Eisai’s Dacogen), and lenalidomide (Celgene’s Revlimid) in the United States has revolutionized clinical management of MDS and has generated interest in the development of novel emerging therapies.

Questions Answered in This Report:

  *   Interviewed thought leaders tell us that clinical management of MDS depends on clinical risk. How do hematologists define risk populations? What are the distributions of MDS patients within different risk groups? How do drug-treatment rates vary across these populations, and how will they change in the future?

  *   Azacitidine has demonstrated an improvement in overall survival compared with conventional-care regimens; however, decitabine failed to show a clinically significant improvement in overall survival. How will this difference affect use of the hypomethylating class of agents? How have thought leaders reacted to this news? Why do experts believe that this discrepancy occurred considering the fact that azacitidine and decitabine are similar molecules?

  *   We forecast that azacitidine and lenalidomide will launch in Europe and Japan for the treatment of MDS. How will the launch of these therapies affect the percentage of MDS patients receiving drug treatment? How will these agents affect current medical practice in these markets?

  *   Thought leaders tell us that there are few emerging therapies with the potential to revolutionize current MDS treatment. Which emerging therapies are most promising? How can novel therapies enter the MDS market? Will novel therapies threaten sales of currently used agents?

Scope:

Markets covered: United States, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Japan.

Primary research: 22 country-specific interviews with thought leaders.

Epidemiology: Diagnosed incidence and diagnosed prevalence of low-risk, intermediate-risk, high-risk, and del(5q) MDS populations in 2007, 2012, and 2017.

Population segments in market forecast: Low-risk, high-risk, and del(5q), based on groupings of MDS patients with specific MDS subtypes.

 Emerging therapies: Select Phase II: 11 drugs; Phase III: 1 drug; preregistration: 0 drugs; registered: 4 drugs.

Market forecast features: Using a prevalence-based market analysis, we forecast population sizes and drug sales for three commercially significant patient segments through 2017.

Alternative market scenarios: Launch of decitabine in Europe and Japan for high-risk MDS patients, capturing the same patient share as azacitidine. Launch of a novel histone deacetylase inhibitor in combination with a hypomethylating agent in the seven major markets under study.

Search Reports

Mentioned in this report:

  • Abbott Laboratories
  • Amgen
  • Bayer Schering Pharma
  • Bayer Yakuhin
  • Bedford Laboratories
  • Biogen Idec
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb
  • Celgene
  • Centocor
  • Cephalon
  • ChemGenex Pharmaceuticals
  • Chugai
  • Cipla
  • CSL Behring
  • Cyclacel
  • Eisai
  • EMD Serono
  • Fresenius Biotech
  • Gemin X Biotechnologies
  • Genentech
  • Genzyme
  • Imtix Sangstat
  • Incyte Corporation
  • Johnson & Johnson
  • Kanisa Pharmaceuticals
  • Meda
  • Meiji Seika
  • Merck
  • MethylGene
  • Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma
  • Nippon Shinyaku
  • Novartis
  • PDL BioPharma
  • Pfizer
  • Roche
  • Sanofi-Aventis
  • Schering-Plough
  • Seattle Genetics
  • Syndax Pharmaceuticals
  • Taiho
  • Takeda
  • Telik
  • TopoTarget
  • Vion Pharmaceuticals
  • Wyeth
  • Zenyaku Kogyo