Following Roche’s announcement of new 2-year data from Part 2 of FIREFISH, a Phase II/III global study evaluating Evrysdi (risdiplam) in infants aged 1-7 months at enrollment with symptomatic Type 1 spinal muscular atrophy (SMA);

Alessio Brunello, Managing Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“Roche’s Evrysdi continues to improve motor function and survival in infants aged 1-7 months with Type 1 SMA after the presentation of these positive data. Evrysdi is set to compete with Biogen’s Spinraza, one of the two leading treatments for SMA, due to their similar mechanisms of action. Evrysdi offers positive clinical attributes whereby the drug can be administered orally, an alternative to Spinraza, which is administered intrathecally via a lumbar puncture. GlobalData forecasts that Evrysdi will generate $1.8bn globally by 2026 compared to Spinraza’s $1.7bn.

“Evrysdi was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in July 2020, however, it was expected to face challenges to erode Spinraza’s SMA market share despite convenient oral dosing due to safety concerns and lack of long-term data. However, with the release of this long-term data and considering the COVID-19 pandemic, Evrysdi now has a competitive advantage over Spinraza. The non-invasive oral treatment means that Evrysdi has the opportunity to provide a convenient at-home treatment and is likely to have an impact on Spinraza’s sales due to being administered orally.”