According to a report by pharmaceutical and healthcare research firm Decision Resources, Abbott/Eisai's Humira will take over from Centocor (J&J)/Schering-Plough/Mitsubishi Tanabe's Remicade as first choice biologic treatment for Crohn´s disease.

Patient-level claims data indicate that Remicade currently captures a larger share of Crohn's disease patients on every line of therapy than Humira.

However, 56 and 65 percent of gastroenterologists and primary care physicians in the survey said that, over the next two years, they will increase their use of Humira on the first and second lines of therapy, respectively, because Humira is easier to use.

Humira can be self injected versus having to go to the physician's office and have Remicade administered intravenously. In addition, both gastroenterologists and primary care physicians say they will increase their use of Humira as a maintenance therapy.

According to interviewed experts, physicians are increasingly moving patients to biologics early in treatment.

The new report, entitled “Treatment Algorithms in Crohn's Disease” also finds that oral 5-aminosalicylates will continue to be used in early lines of therapy for patients with mild disease.

Among oral 5-aminosalicylates, Shire's Lialda has more convenient dosing. Because of thisclinical advantage, surveyed physicians indicated that they intend to move patients to Lialda from both Procter & Gamble/Giuliani's Asacol and Shire/Ferring/Nisshin/Kyorin Seiyaku's Pentasa over the next two years.

In the U.S., J&J´s Remicade had earnings of $ 2.86 billion dollars in 3Q2008, and marketed in the rest of the world by Schering-Plough, added another almost $ 1.63 billion dollars in the same period. Abbott/Eisai´s Humira generated just over $ 3.17 billion dollars in 3Q2008.