What do you
do when your brand is over 30 years old, highly effective,
but with unappealing side effects? To make matters worse,
it's threatened by new, more patient-friendly options?
Some background:
- Due to its heritage of efficacy, Efudex is the leading
prescription brand for treating actinic keratoses (AKs,
which are the precursor to skin cancer).
- The side effects of therapy -- redness, crusting, and
peeling -- are so undesirable, that many patients do not
comply with therapy.
- Noncompliant patients call with complaints, don't
get better, and are essentially, a physician's nightmare.
- Surprisingly enough, these cosmetically objectionable
side effects are actually proof that the drug works. In
fact, even areas that DO NOT have AKs react to the drug
when subclinical (not yet visible) lesions exist. This,
we thought, was a therapeutic plus!
|
