The haemophilia treatment landscape is to undergo a radical shift away from established short-acting therapies, beginning with the launch of Biogen Idec’s long-acting rFVIII and rFIX products this year, according to research and consulting firm GlobalData.

The company’s latest report also states that the patient shares of currently marketed short-acting recombinant products will erode considerably by 2022 across seven major markets (the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK and Japan).

Brooke Baker, Ph.D., GlobalData’s senior analyst covering Oncology and Hematology, says: “Biogen Idec’s new treatments have the potential to reduce the number of weekly prophylactic infusions and greatly improve patients’ convenience and quality of life.

“By pricing its long-acting agents, namely Eloctate and Alprolix, in line with the established short-acting recombinant factors, Biogen Idec aims to incentivise patients to switch from their previous therapies.”

GlobalData forecasts that peak-year US sales for Eloctate and Alprolix will reach $786 million and $349 million by 2022, respectively.

Another key factor behind Biogen Idec’s anticipated success will be its treatments’ first-to-market position among therapies of the same class, as it seeks to take a share of the market from established haemophilia players, such as Baxter, Novo Nordisk, Bayer and CSL Behring.

Baker explains: “ Eloctate and Alprolix launched in the US this year, ahead of their competitors in the haemophilia A and B markets, respectively.

“As physicians view these and other emerging long-acting pipeline drugs as offering equivalent levels of clinical benefit, with few distinguishing attributes to influence patient preference, time-to-market and pricing will be pivotal in determining product uptake.”