Shrinks Like Latuda Over the Competition, Survey Finds

Psychiatrists are more likely to recommend Sunovion Pharmaceuticals’ Latuda to colleagues than Merck’s Saphris or Novartis’ Fenapt, according to a DTW Marketing Research survey.

All three drugs are atypical antipsychotics indicated for schizophrenia, and had US launches in late 2009 (Saphris), early 2010 (Fenapt) and February of this year (Latuda). Latuda, however, appears to be gaining favor with at least some psychiatrists, due in part to successful interactions with sales reps.

When asked about the most important part of a Latuda sales call, and the brand’s greatest advantage, “metabolic profile was frequently singled-out” by survey respondents, according to David Rittenhouse, manager, analytic services, at DTW Marketing Research. “In addition, unaided message recall showed that [Latuda’s] reps are pushing two unique aspects of the product in their overall message, when compared to the competition: metabolic profile [cited by 45% of respondents] and once-daily dosing [24% or respondents], both of which are topics that can help improve patient compliance,” said Rittenhouse.

Among surveyed psychiatrists that attended a dinner meeting for Latuda (28% of respondents), almost half rated the information given at the dinner as “extremely useful,” or a five on a one-to-five Likert scale. Eighty-six percent gave the dinner information a rating of four or five, the top two scores. “This shows the influence that in-person discussions can have and still have, even if it’s not necessarily one-to-one,” said Rittenhouse. Too few psychiatrists had recently received an invitation for an e-detail on Latuda to analyze their perceptions of face-to-face detailing versus online detailing, Rittenhouse said.