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Expert Interview

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A Second Opinion: Discussing the prescribing patterns of LUMRYZ (sodium oxybate) for Cataplexy or Excessive Daytime Sleepiness in Adults with Narcolepsy

Ticker(s): AVDL, JAZZ

Who's the expert?

Institution: UCLA Department of Neurology

  • Neurologist, Professor of Neurology at UCLA where he serves as Director of the UCLA Sleep Disorders Center. 
  • Currently treats 120 patients with narcolepsy and has prescribed Lumryz to 17 patients. 
  • Has published over 100 manuscripts on sleep disorders and had coauthored four books. 

Interview Questions
Q1.

Roughly how many patients do you treat with Narcolepsy?

Added By: chanell_admin
Q2.

Do you currently prescribe LUMRYZ?

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Q3.

Have many patients come proactively to you to speak about LUMRYZ, or do you only talk about it when you bring it up to them?

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Q4.

When you see Xyrem/Xywav patients on their regular schedule follow-up visits, are you bringing up Lumryz to them?  If so, what % of Xyrem/Xywav patients that you discuss Lumryz with have expressed a strong interest in switching?

Added By: chanell_admin
Q5.

What % of patients who were on Xyrem/Xywav prior to Lumryz's launch do you expect to switch to LUMRYZ over the next year?  For those who aren't going to switch over the next year, do you think a good chunk will switch later or if they don't switch within a year's time they will probably never switch?  And for the patients who aren't switching to LUMRYZ, what are the main reasons they are deciding to stay on Xyrem/Xywav?

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Q6.

What % of your new Oxybate starts are choosing Lumryz vs. Xyrem/Xywav?  For the patients who are choosing Xyrem/Xywav, what are the main reasons for choosing that over Lumryz?

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Q7.

How concerned are you about the higher sodium level of Lumryz vs. Xywav and is this issue playing a big role in limiting the number of switches to Lumryz and/or favoring Xywav for new starrts?   How concerned are patients about the sodium issue and do you see the decision of once nightly vs. low sodium to be a tough tradeoff or not?

Added By: chanell_admin
Q8.

How many patients do you have on Oxybate today, including Lumryz, Xyrem, Generic Xyrem, and Xywav?  How many patients have you sent to the RYZUP program to get Lumryz since the drug launched to today (a period of roughly 2.5 months)?  Compared to the number of patients taht you sent to RYZUP over the last 2.5 months, how many do you expect to send to RYZUP over the next 2.5 months.... will the number be similar, or will it move up as kinks get worked out and familiarity with the drug increases?

Added By: chanell_admin
Q9.

Of the patients that you have sent to RYZUP, what % of those do you think will ultimately end up on LUMRYZ with coverage from insurance and what % will drop off due to either non-coverage or just not following through?

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Q10.

How has your experience been prescribing LUMRYZ so far?  Does it take a lot of work to get it approved by insurance, or generally pretty easy?  

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Q11.

Avadel points to two potential pockets of market expansion for Lumryz: 1) patients who previously tried oxybate therapy but dropped off with the 2x dosing regimen being an issue, and 2) patients who were suggested to try oxybate therapy but didn't in part because the 2x dosing regimen was too cumbersome or undesirable for them.  How much of an opportunity for market expansion do you see with these populations?

Added By: chanell_admin
Q12.

Jazz and AVDL maintains there are at least 30k patients that have discontinued Xyrem/Xywav in the last 3 years. Is this mainly because of the twice nightly dosing, or is it mainly do to GI based AEs or other reasons? Importantly, are these patients following Lumryz and asking about it? Are you talking to these patients about Lumryz? Do you expect a meaningful percentage of discontinuers to come back to sodium oxybates now that lumryz is on the market? 

Added By: user1a9v3vo5
Q13.

Are Xywav patients also asking about, or are you also talking to them about Lumryz -- especially those patients without CV risk? Over the course of th next 6 months what kind of penetration do you expect into the Xyrem population (and how many patients do you have on Xyrem) and what kind of penetration do you see in the Xywav population (and how many patients do you have on xywav)? 

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Q14.

***How has the reimbursement process gone for your patients and your internal staff? How many patients are in the Ryzup REMs program, and how many have actually gotten payer approval and started therapy? has this reimburement process been much more onerous or long than you or the patients have expected? On average, how long does approval take? Are there certain specialty pharmas that are much slower than others in approving lumryz? How do you expect reimbursement timelines to change in the next 6 months, now that two specialty pharmas have coverage decisions?/

Added By: user1a9v3vo5
Q15.

How big is the IH opportunity for Lumryz? do you see JAZZ's 2200 patients on therapy as an indication this is a much smaller market than narcolepsy, or is it that twice nightly dosing simply doesn't work for IH patients? Do you think Wakix works well in IH, and do you see AVDL taking a large part of this marker? 

Added By: user1a9v3vo5
Q16.

Are you aware that the FDA has determined that LUMRYZ is superior to all other Oxbates in the market today? Given that, is there any reason not try to switch patients to LUMRYZ unless they have a salt issue that can't be treated with other means?

Added By: user7d840d5d
Q17.

What has been the patient experience so far with Lumryz? Do they see the drug as an improvement to twice nighly sodium oxybates? Do they see it as being as effective as twice nightly oxybates? What percentage of Lumryz patients do you expect to stay on drug, versus coming back to a twice nightly? what would be the reason for any patients to come back to the twice nightly?

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Q18.

How big could the pediatric opportunity be for lumryz? roughly how many patients are diagnosed at an age where their parents would be the primary caregiver of the medicine? Do you see this as a big opportunity? 

Added By: user1a9v3vo5
Q19.

Did you have any patients that were in the AVDL trial? How were their experiences compared to your other Oxybate patients.

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Q20.

Is your narcolepsy patient population growing? What about with your IH and pediatric patients?

Added By: user7d840d5d

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