Practice

Patients who are candidates for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) require adequate collection of stem cells, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor agents (G-CSFs) are typically used for stem cell mobilization while plerixafor is used to increase the yield of mobilized stem cells. While the biosimilar filgrastim agent Zarxio has become a more widely used, cost-saving G-CSF option in this context, little research has been conducted on whether the use of the biosimilar rather than its reference, Neupogen, has an impact on plerixafor use in patients undergoing AHSCT.

A recent study sought to clarify factors that could predict therapeutic response to infliximab in Japanese patients with Crohn disease (CD), and found 4 key indicators that may predict response in clinical practice.

Despite the extensive body of literature on rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the exact causes of the disease are not fully understood. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF) is known to play a key role in the disease by stimulating catabolic processes and causing inflammation, and important elements of inflammation include changes in extracellular matrix compounds and their constituents, such as glycosaminoglycans.

Bevacizumab, an anti–vascular endothelial growth factor treatment for which 1 biosimilar has been approved to date, has been shown to improve quality of life for patients with glioblastoma—and to delay disease progression—but has not prolonged patients’ overall survival. However, recent research suggests that using 4 older drugs together with bevacizumab could provide a more effective treatment protocol.

While the United Kingdom (UK) was a slow adopter of biosimilars compared with many of its European counterparts, recent years have seen a steady uptick in biosimilar use. A new qualitative study, using semistructured interviews with healthcare providers in the United Kingdom’s West Midlands region, sought to assess attitudes toward biosimilars in the clinical specialties of diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and rheumatology.

Some studies have found that granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) therapies are underused for the prophylaxis of febrile neutropenia (FN) in Europe, but the widespread availability of cheaper biosimilar options has led to increased use. A new study, published in BMC Cancer, sought to examine the use of the biosimilar filgrastim, Zarzio, in relationship to European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) guidelines.

Results of a recent survey demonstrate that Asian physicians are less confident in using biosimilars than their European peers are.

In many regulatory territories, patients with Crohn disease (CD) who lose response to adalimumab at a dose of 40 mg given every other week may be given an escalation to 40 mg every week. However, in Japan, where adalimumab is typically administered by a healthcare provider rather than by the patient, a study investigated the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics (PK) of adalimumab after a dose escalation to 80 mg every other week as a means to reduce the need for additional patient appointments.

During the 83rd Annual Scientific Meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology, researchers from the United Kingdom reported on yet another large, nonmedical switch from reference infliximab to biosimilar CT-P13 (Inflectra, Remsima), this time in the Pennine Acute Hospitals Trust.

Three quantification assays optimized for therapeutic drug monitoring of Remicade can be used to monitor levels of the infliximab biosimilar Flixabi (sold in the United States as Renflexis).

Rituximab is frequently used off-label as a treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) because it induces the depletion of circulating B-cell and T-cell lymphocytes and targets CD20 protein in B cells that are responsible for the production of antibodies.

Results of a small Greek observational study suggest that biosimilar infliximab may be an effective alternative for the treatment of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who have active disease and experienced a loss of response to innovator infliximab (Remicade).

The best predictors of which US counties’ patients are most likely to be prescribed higher-priced drugs are income, healthcare costs, and access to exercise opportunities, according to a new study published online in Nature Communications.

Among long-term responders, first-line bevacizumab-based therapy is more effective in patients with HER2-negative metastatic breast cancer (MBC) who were not previously treated with taxanes, a recent Spanish study suggests.

During this week’s International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research 2018 European meeting, the role of biosimilars in oncology is the subject of several research presentations, all of which underscore the importance of these agents in increasing patient access and driving down costs.

This week, healthcare economics stakeholders have gathered in Barcelona, Spain, for the 2018 annual European meeting of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research. During the meeting, research teams from around the globe are presenting findings that support the use of biosimilar infliximab as a cost-saving measure.

Early-onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) can have a more aggressive course than later-onset disease, making prompt treatment for children with IBD especially important. Given the high cost of biologics that treat pediatric IBD—adalimumab and infliximab—biosimilars are emerging as an important cost-saving option that can prevent the premature termination of biologic therapy for financial reasons.

During the Community Oncology Alliance Payer Summit, held October 29-30, 2018, The Center for Biosimilars® had the opportunity to sit down with several oncologists to discuss their opinions on and experiences with biosimilars.

At the Department of Abdominal Oncology at the National Cancer Institute of Naples in Italy, an expert pharmacist was involved in evaluating the economic impact of improving the Italian registry of high-cost drugs, particularly bevacizumab, cetuximab, panitumumab, and trastuzumab.

Samsung Bioepis, maker of Imraldi, has developed an autoinjector device that aims to address some of the mobility limitations that patients with rheumatoid arthritis may have in self-administering their adalimumab with a syringe.

While US patients with HER2-positive cancers do not have an available subcutaneous trastuzumab option, Brazil, Canada, and the European Union have an approved product that has been shown in a phase 3 trial to be noninferior to intravenous trastuzumab.

Given the high burden of cancer in the senior population, and given the increasingly high cost of cancer care, there is a growing interest in value-based oncology care payment models, particularly within CMS.

Current treatment for cutaneous lupus erythematosus (CLE) commonly focuses on photoprotection, topical therapies, corticosteroids, antimalarial drugs, and immunosuppressive drugs. More recently, B-cell depleting therapies, such as rituximab, have shown promise in treating systemic lupus erythematosus, though the feasibility of treating CLE with rituximab has not been well described.

With the launch of some of the most highly anticipated products thus far in the biosimilar experience, and with the release of key new data on multiple biosimilar products, October 2018 was a memorable month for biosimilar stakeholders.

A recent population-based study examined the prescribing and utilization of CT-P13 versus the reference infliximab in infliximab-naïve patients and found that discontinuation and switching were more common among patients who began therapy with the biosimilar.

A recent study presented at the Annual Scientific Meeting of the British Blood Transfusion Society, held in Brighton, United Kingdom from October 3-5, 2018, sought to determine the impact of introducing biosimilar filgrastim (sold in the United Kingdom as Zarzio) on the number of patients who were able to achieve target CD34 yield in peripheral blood stem cell mobilization (PBCM).

The arrival of biosimilar adalimumab in European markets has been cause for enthusiasm among those seeking greater patient access and lower costs for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, AbbVie (maker of the reference adalimumab, Humira) has revealed that its oral Janus kinase inhibitor, upadacitinib, outperformed both placebo and adalimumab in a phase 3 study.

While real-world data, such as those derived from the NOR-SWITCH study, have been reassuring about the feasibility of switching patients with inflammatory diseases from reference infliximab (Remicade) to biosimilar CT-P13 (sold as Inflectra and Remsima), some ambiguous data in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have raised questions among clinicians about switching in the indications of Crohn disease and ulcerative colitis.

Anemia is a common complication for patients who are undergoing chemotherapy, and one that has implications for patients’ quality of life, especially with respect to fatigue. During the European Society for Medical Oncology 2018 Congress, held October 19-23, 2018, in Munich, Germany, Jérôme Desrame, MD, reported on results of the CIROCO study, which assessed fatigue in patients with chemotherapy-induced anemia who were treated with biosimilar epoetin alfa.

While provider education on biosimilars presents a hurdle for health systems worldwide, patient education is also an area of significant need. During the fifth DIA Biosimilars Conference, held October 22 to 23 in London, United Kingdom, several stakeholders addressed this challenge.