Report provides comprehensive insight into how physicians classify and treat patients with gout

Mar 3 2010

BioTrends Research Group, Inc. is pleased to announce the availability of its TreatmentTrends^®: Gout and Hyperuricemia publication.  The report is based on responses to online surveys completed by 120 Rheumatologists and 57 Primary Care Physicians in the US who are managing a high number of patients with gout.  This syndicated report provides comprehensive insight into how physicians classify patients with gout, how treatment is evolving for both flare management and uric acid lowering strategies, what product attributes are most important for gout products and what therapies in development hold the most promise of success.  Throughout the report, comparisons are made between Rheumatology and Primary Care audiences.

The survey found that Rheumatologists and Primary Care Physicians not only use different classifications for their gout patients but that these two groups often disagree on the best approach to treatment.  More than 70% of the Rheumatologists felt that PCPs referred gout patients to them later than they would like, and 79% of the PCPs indicate a strong preference for treating and managing their gout patients on their own rather than referring to a Rheumatology specialist.  Another interesting finding was the higher use of colchicine during uric acid therapy initiation by Rheumatologists compared to PCPs.  Rheumatologists were also significantly more likely than PCPs to agree that hyperuricemia is a serious risk factor in the progression of cardiovascular disease.

When it comes to treatment, there have been minimal changes in the management of gout flare attacks recently, although Rheumatologists and PCPs have different approaches to treating flares.  The biggest changes in gout management have come with the introduction of Takeda's Uloric (febuxostat) which a majority of surveyed physicians have adopted into their practices.  97% of the surveyed Rheumatologists and 58% of the surveyed PCPs indicated that they are currently using Uloric in their practice and market share projections for the product are favorable in the next six months.  Although expanded use of Uloric is intended, physicians strongly indicated that expansion will be hampered by the cost of Uloric and managed care controls placed on its availability to patients.

A number of therapies for gout are currently in development.  In this study, five of these agents were profiled including Savient's Krystexxa, Regneron's Arcalyst, Novartis' Ilaris, Nuon's Tranilast and Ardea BioScience's RDEA-594.  A majority of Rheumatologists identified Krystexxa as the agent that would bring the most value to their practice, while PCPs were more likely to select RDEA-594 as the most valuable addition.