Is it good enough to challenge MS market hegemony with Roche's new drug ocrelizumab?

September 21, 2015 - It is well known that the multiple sclerosis drug market is one of the most promising in the pharmaceutical market, with a market share of more than $20 billion making many biopharmaceutical giants salivate. So in recent years there have been biopharmaceutical companies entering the field hoping for a piece of the pie. This has also led to a market full of heavyweights. Recently, Roche developed a new drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis ocrelizumab successfully completed two clinical phase III studies, the company is confident that this will challenge the "hegemony" of the multiple sclerosis market.
Ocrelizumab is an antibody drug that Roche researchers had hoped would be a successful arthritis drug. However, following failures in arthritis research, Roche turned to the drug to make a difference in the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The shift now seems sensible. In the just-concluded Clinical Phase III study, the efficacy of ocrelizumab beat Merck's best-selling drug for multiple sclerosis, Rebif, which showed that the drug was effective in reducing the number of cases and slowing the decline in physical function in patients. Roche expects to submit ocrelizumab to the FDA and European pharmaceutical regulators for review in the first quarter of next year.
Roche's aspirations are good, analysts say it is not enough to beat the long-listed Rebif alone. If Roche is to gain a place in the multiple sclerosis market, Ocrelizumab needs the strength to challenge the market's dominant Novartis and Baxter products. In addition, Sanofi has considered consider a considered influence in this area.
and Roche is clearly prepared for this challenge. The company says the biggest difference between ocrelizumab and other similar products is its safety. The company said it would release all Clinical Phase III study data next month and was confident that all experts would be impressed by its safety. Currently, the company is awaiting the results of a clinical Phase III study of ocrelizumab's treatment of advanced multiple sclerosis, a type of multiple sclerosis that is difficult to treat, and if the results are good, the value of ocrelizumab is bound to multiply. (Bio Valley)