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Shire reports quick uptick in Xiidra prescriptions
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At the end of 2016, about 1,000 physicians each week were joining the ranks of those newly prescribing Xiidra for dry eye disease, according to the head of the company that launched the medication last year.
Flemming Ornskov, MD, CEO of Shire, spoke of the rapid rise of Xiidra (lifitegrast ophthalmic solution 5%) at the 35th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.
Xiidra became available for prescription in August 2016 after being approved by the FDA for treatment of signs and symptoms of dry eye disease. Since then, prescriptions for the twice-daily lifitegrast ophthalmic solution drops accumulated quickly, Ornskov said.
“We achieved 20% total market share in the U.S. alone within less than 3 months,” Ornskov said. “We have most of the prescribing physicians, both optometrists and ophthalmologists, prescribing the product. We have very strong feedback about the launch and the uses and the experience patients have.”
Roughly 200,000 prescriptions had been written at the time of Ornskov’s conference presentation. Additionally, Xiidra held 51% of new-to-brand prescriptions, he said, and the average number of prescriptions per physician was growing month-over-month. – by Joe Green
- Reference:
- Shire. 35th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference; Jan. 9-12, 2017; San Francisco.