NBRx (New-to-Brand Prescription)
What is an NBRx?
A new-to-brand prescription (NBRx) refers to a patient’s first prescription for a particular drug. It differs from a new prescription (NRx), which patients receive each time they visit their doctor and are prescribed a medication, regardless of whether it’s a continuation of a previous prescription or a new treatment. A patient can have multiple NRxs for a specific medicine but only one NBRx.
NBRx is one of several metrics associated with prescription drugs—others include NRx and TRx (total prescriptions). All three metrics can provide key information about a drug’s market performance, whether analyzed alone or together.
How can Biopharma companies use NBRx?
NBRx can provide biopharmaceutical companies with multiple levels of insight. By quantifying the number of patients who begin taking a specific medication, NBRx can indicate a company’s ability to outperform competitors and capture a larger market share. Since there is a finite number of patients who need each type of treatment, the more NBRxs a medication has, the more patients are taking that medication instead of any other.
Additionally, monitoring NBRx can provide insight into the effectiveness of a marketing plan and guide future marketing strategies. Since NBRx reflects the marketing team’s efforts more directly than NRx and TRx, a higher number of NBRxs suggests successful marketing. Conversely, areas where NBRx is lacking can indicate a need for refocused or revised marketing efforts.