Ann: Q4 2023 quarterly activity report, page-21

High discontinuation rates in prescribed drugs is a really common problem. Below are some examples. This is an issue that impacts drugs for rare debilitating conditions as well as very common ones. Obviously, the more challenging the side effect profile is, the higher the discontinuation rate is likely to be.

Antidepressants

Approximately 25% of patients discontinue treatment within 1 month and as many as 68% of patients within 3 months.


Antihypertensives

Approximately 50% of 4783 patients in 21 Phase 4 studies were found to have stopped their medication within 1 year.


Lipid lowering drugs

60% of patients discontinued their medication over 12 months - a quarter within one month of starting treatment and a half within three months. The predominant reasons for discontinuation were: patient unconvinced about need for treatment (32%), poor efficacy (32%) and adverse events (7%).


Novel treatments for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (such as Exondys51)

Approximately a third of patients discontinued novel DMD treatments after approximately 7 months. Suggested reasons include lack of efficacy, financial challenges, safety concerns related to side effects, and the presence of other health issues.


Corticosteroid treatment for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Among patients who were nonambulatory, 28% had discontinued corticosteroid use. The primary reasons for discontinuation were problems with side effects (65%) or not enough benefit (28%).


Spinraza for Spinal Muscular Dystrophy

For patients with SMA type 1, 55.2% still continued the treatment as prescribed one year after they started.

For types 2 and 3, 42.4% of type 2 and 54.6% of type 3 patients were still continuing the treatment as prescribed one year after starting.

Regardless of SMA type, less than 50% remained on treatment at the 24-month mark, or two years after starting Spinraza.