Less than half of Graves’ Disease patients achieve remission with anti-thyroid drugs, and nearly half of those that do will relapse.

NEWTON, Mass., Aug. 16, 2023  /PRNewswire/ – Graves’ Disease (GD) is an autoimmune disease and the leading cause of overactive thyroid. For the last several decades, the GD treatment landscape has included three main options:

  • Anti-thyroid drugs (methimazole and propylthiouracil)
  • Radioiodine ablation
  • Thyroidectomy

The majority of GD patients elect for anti-thyroid drugs (ATDs) as first-line because it is the only non-definitive treatment option and can also induce and sustain remission off therapy, although less than half of patients will successfully achieve this outcome. Patients who relapse can opt for another round of ATDs or choose a definitive option like radioiodine ablation or surgery – both of which irreversibly destroy the thyroid gland and require patients to take lifelong thyroid hormone replacement therapy. According to REACH Market Research‘s MarketVue® assessment, endocrinologists are eager for novel, targeted therapeutics for GD that do not irreversibly destroy the thyroid gland.

Endocrinologist, U.S.— “Patients want a treatment, and we do too, that targets the source of the problem, which is the antibody to the TSH receptor, rather than treating the downstream consequences with some fairly extreme options.”

To access REACH’s MarketVue® Report on GD, visit https://reachmr.com or contact us at info@reachmr.com.

Despite high disease prevalence of GD (over 75,000 newly diagnosed cases per year in the US), the pipeline remains sparse with only a few biologics in early-stage development, including:

  • Immunovant’s FcRn monoclonal antibody, batoclimab, which recently initiated a Phase 2 trial
  • Anti-TSHR monoclonal antibodies, peptides, and antagonist small molecules that are in preclinical stages or early Phase 1 trials

Tyler Jakab, Analyst at REACH: “Graves’ patients hope for disease remission off ATD therapy, but relapse rates remain high. The introduction of another therapy may offer an additional opportunity for remission among those who relapse and are otherwise hesitant to undergo a definitive treatment like ablation or surgery.”

 

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MarketVue® reports are a rare disease focused, fresh alternative to traditionally long and outdated market research reports. MarketVue® reports cover rare disease epidemiology and key market dynamics based on research from key opinion leader interviews, physician surveys, and secondary data.