Ask a healthcare professional (HCP) to name a psychiatric medicine and chances are they’ll say a brand approved at least 10 years ago. That finding, which comes from a ZoomRx survey, points to the challenge facing new market entrants as they try to wrestle mindshare from incumbents through marketing.
ZoomRx spoke to more than 50 HCPs for the survey. The survey revealed a fragmented market, with the 10 drugs most commonly recalled by HCPs accounting for only around half of total mindshare.
On one level, the fragmentation is a positive for companies seeking to win market share, with ZoomRx noting that the lack of dominant players creates opportunities for targeted marketing strategies.
But the results also highlight the “considerable challenge facing newer entrants in displacing established treatments from HCP consciousness.” ZoomRx issued that warning after observing that drugs approved more than 10 years ago accounted for 76% of HCP mindshare.
Prozac topped the mindshare rankings at 7%, followed by a tie between Vraylar and Abilify for second place. Eli Lilly won FDA approval for Prozac in 1987, and the FDA authorized Abilify in 2002. Vraylar is the newest drug in the top three, having received FDA approval in 2015.
The survey offers pointers to companies that want to win mindshare and, by extension, market share. Messaging about efficacy benefits and the safety profile tied for first on a list of factors that keep psychiatric drugs top of mind for HCPs. Tolerability profile placed third, followed by mechanism of action.
ZoomRx found mechanism of action ranked lower for approved drugs: Once a medicine is on the market, HCPs appear to be more influenced by its clinical performance than its pharmacological innovation. On the flipside, that finding suggests mechanism of action messaging can help win mindshare for investigational drugs.
A survey question about pipeline drugs supported that suggestion. The survey found mindshare for drugs in the pipeline is particularly fragmented, with many HCPs not aware of any specific investigational candidates, but identified commonalities between the molecules that have penetrated the consciousness of physicians.
For example, Compass Pathways’ COMP360 psilocybin therapy, the fast-acting ketamine derivative RR-HNK and NRx Pharmaceuticals’ combination of an NMDA receptor modulator and 5-HT2a receptor antagonist topped the mindshare ranking for investigational drugs. ZoomRx said the results indicate “significant interest in ... novel approaches to treating psychiatric conditions with substantial unmet needs.”