Zytiga Overtakes Provenge as Favourite with Oncologists

Zytiga overtaking Provenge in MCRPC

Despite no current approval of Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) subsidiary Janssen’s Zytiga (abiraterone acetate) in asymptomatic/minimally symptomatic metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (MCRPC), 31% of US surveyed physicians report decreased use of Dendreon’s Nasdaq: DNDN) Provenge (sipuleucel-T) because Zytiga is available, according to a new survey of 106 US urologists and medical oncologists from BioTrends Research.

The US Food and Drug Administration-approved indication for Zytiga in docetaxel-treated MCRPC patients means that more surveyed oncologists than urologists have prescribed Zytiga. The majority of medical oncologists have prescribed Zytiga compared with less than a quarter of surveyed urologists. Oncologists typically manage the treatment of symptomatic MCRPC patients at the point at which chemotherapy is initiated, but urologists manage hormonal therapies in earlier lines of prostate cancer treatment.

Surveyed urologists and oncologists agree that urologists now have a greater role in the treatment of MCRPC as a result of the launch of the novel hormonal therapy, Zytiga. However, urologists and oncologists have differing opinions about the future role of urologists in MCRPC treatment.

Zytiga Favourable Over Jevtana

The majority of current Zytiga prescribers are satisfied with Zytiga’s overall clinical performance, but in the docetaxel-treated MCRPC setting Sanofi’s Jevtana (cabazitaxel) poses considerable competition to the growth of Zytiga. However, the majority of surveyed oncologists and urologists consider Zytiga to be favorable over Jevtana. In various different docetaxel-treated MCRPC patient sub-populations, Zytiga has already captured greatest patient share out of any currently available therapy according to surveyed urologists and oncologists in the USA.
While uptake of Zytiga is significant in the docetaxel-treated MCRPC patient population, physicians also believe use of Zytiga is appropriate in multiple other prostate cancer patient populations.