By
Paul Cranston and Tomi Shobande 
Every month, CREATION.co’s tracking updates bring you the latest insights from the conversation of healthcare professionals (HCPs) across the globe discussing product launches. Discover which new drug approvals HCPs are talking about, what they think about them, and which online sources they are using to inform their opinions and conversations in CREATION.co’s latest tracking update.
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Throughout June 2022 we tracked the global conversations of 2,279 HCPs who posted 3,369 English-language Twitter posts about the launches and approvals of new products.
Over the course of the month of June, there were several product approvals that sparked discussion from HCPs online, with notable excitement being found for the FDA’s approval of Novartis’ 5th agnostic treatment in cancer, which can be used to treat all solid tumours with a BRAF V600E mutation. Additionally, HCPs were also positive about approvals in amyloidosis, alopecia, and Crohn’s disease, however, opinions were more divided on the FDA’s decision to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines in children aged 6 months and older.
The FDA’s decision to approve the combination of two Novartis products, Tafinlar (dabrafenib) and Mekinist (trametinib), for the treatment of patients with unresectable or metastatic solid tumours with BRAF V600E mutation, was met with considerable enthusiasm from HCPs. There was particular mention of the approval being agnostic – meaning that the therapy is approved to treat cancer based on the cancer’s genetic and molecular features without regard to the cancer type or where the cancer started in the body. Many HCPs took to sharing the news on social media, celebrating the approval as great news for patients and highlighting the ORR data in the study the approval was based on.
This is huge👇🏾.
5️⃣th #AGNOSTIC approval for #Cancer. ALL SOLID TUMORS❗️
Outside of the #CRCSM & EGFR⏫story, #BRAFV600E has been shown to be actionable➡️RAF/MEK⛔️blockade.
👏🏾 great news for patients with #BRAF. Have been waiting for this! @OncoAlerthttps://t.co/OE0Fisx2Yf pic.twitter.com/Kql8HaGqWN
— Pashtoon Kasi MD, MS (@pashtoonkasi) June 23, 2022
This is INCREDIBLE! Agnostic approval for BRAF V600E tumors based on ROAR – 🎯seen in about 5% of #cholangiocarcinoma! ORR was 37% in the study. Huge win for our patients! @curecc @TheLancetOncol @FDAOncology @VivekSubbiah https://t.co/nY5eQdnBxm
— Rachna Shroff, MD, FASCO (@rachnatshroff) June 23, 2022
HCPs also shared the approval of Alnylam pharmaceuticals’ Amvuttra (vutrisiran) for the treatment of the polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis (hATTR) in adults. hATTR amyloidosis is a rare, inherited, rapidly progressive, and fatal disease with debilitating polyneuropathy manifestations, for which there are few treatment options. As such, HCPs were positive about the news and pleased to have more options to treat the condition.
Excellent news for our variant #ATTR #amyloidosis community with the approval of vutrisiran. Congrats to patients, study teams and @Alnylam #CardioTwitter https://t.co/jhTS4U63jZ
— Ahmad Masri (@MasriAhmadMD) June 14, 2022
Another approval which caught HCPs attention in June was Lily and Incyte’s Olumiant (baricitinib), the first and only approved systematic medicine for adults with severe alopecia areata, a disorder that often appears as patchy baldness and affects more than 300,000 people in the US each year. HCPs were excited about the novel treatment that could be revolutionary in treating hair loss.
First #FDA approved #therapy for #alopecia areata. This will revolutionise the #treatment of this distressing cause of #hair loss. https://t.co/bvabkO9wyD
— Dr Bevin Bhoyrul (@DrBevinBhoyrul) June 15, 2022
Additionally, while the level of HCP conversation around approvals in the COVID-19 space fell considerably in June, some HCPs still discussed the FDA’s authorisation of Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccines for children down to 6 months of age. HCPs shared mixed views regarding the announcement, some were excited while others questioned the data and the beneficial effect for children.
Momentous—FDA independent advisors vote 21 to 0 to recommend the Moderna and Pfizer #COVID19 vaccines for kids 0.5-4 years old — covering at least 19 million young children in the US. CDC meetings Friday/Saturday. CDC approval likely over weekend. https://t.co/fRQ1n06mT4
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) June 15, 2022
https://twitter.com/PBillingMD/status/1537831860801110016
Finally, HCPs also discussed the FDAs approval of Skyrizi (risankizumab-rzaa) for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active Crohn’s disease . Skyrizi is part of a collaboration between Boehringer Ingelheim and AbbVie, with AbbVie leading development and commercialisation of Skyrizi globally.
Skyrizi (risankizumab) receives @US_FDA approval for moderate-to-severe #Crohns.
▶️This is a p19 inhibitor that selectively inhibits IL-23.
▶️A new treatment for Crohn's disease. What I've called the "second generation" IL-23 therapies. https://t.co/22tgzC32Tt— David T. Rubin, MD (@IBDMD) June 17, 2022
The three most shared links from HCPs discussing product launches in May were:
- An FDA press release of their approval of Tafinlar (dabrafenib) plus Mekinist (trametinib) for all BRAF V600E–mutated unresectable or metastatic solid tumours
- An FDA press release of their approval of Olumiant (baricitinib) first systemic treatment for alopecia areata
- An AbbVie press release on the FDA Approval of Skyrizi (risankizumab-rzaa) as the First and Only Specific Interleukin-23 (IL-23) to Treat Moderately to Severely Active Crohn’s Disease in Adults
Each month, CREATION.co tracks the HCP conversation relating to new product launches.
You can keep up to date with this and a variety of other topics including virtual congress, healthcare changes since the pandemic, product development and therapy area specific insights within the Tracking section of CREATION Knowledge, or sign up to receive our monthly eJournal with all of our latest HCP insights.
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Methodology
- Using CREATION Pinpoint® the English-language Twitter conversations of HCPs globally discussing new pharmaceutical product launches and drug approvals between 1 June and 30 June 2022 were analysed in order to discover which new product launches HCPs are discussing as well as #WhatHCPsThink.
- Mentions of drug approvals by the FDA, EMA, NICE, and CHMP were included in the data, as well as mentions of ‘drug approval’ by HCPs in their Twitter conversations.
- Between 1 June and 30 June 2022, there were 3,369 HCP mentions of new pharmaceutical product launches and drug approvals from 2,279 unique HCP authors from around the world.
