Practice

A new survey assessing awareness of and attitudes about biosimilars among medical specialists and pharmacists in Ireland found that majority of such experts say that they are familiar or very familiar with the term “biosimilar,” but many general practitioners (GPs) were either unable to define or had never heard the term.

An analysis of 53 switching studies reveals a variable level of good-quality evidence regarding switching from reference drugs to their biosimilars.

This week, James Stevenson, PharmD, FASHP, professor at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy, delivered a webinar via the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy.

An FDA official has said that the agency expects interchangeable biosimilars to come to market within 2 years and that the first interchangeable biosimilar will likely be reviewed by an FDA advisory committee of outside experts.

Available data from comparative clinical trials and observational studies strongly confirm the equivalence between CT-P13 and originator infliximab for the treatment of rheumatologic diseases.

Joseph P. Fuhr, Jr, PhD, professor emeritus, Widener University, discusses interchangability in biosimilars.

The Biologics Prescribers Collaborative (BPC), an organization comprising 6 member groups whose memberships prescribe biologic agents, has released its comment letter to the FDA on the agency’s Considerations in Demonstrating Interchangeability With a Reference Product draft guidance, calling on the FDA to do more to “promote transparency and patient safety."

In a new paper published in Cancer Care Management and Research, researchers examine the progress that the United States has made toward reforming healthcare since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, with a particular focus on the role that biosimilar products may play in achieving the ACA’s 3-fold goal of increasing access to treatment, controlling costs, and improving patient care.

Research presented at the 22nd Annual International Meeting of The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research demonstrates gaps in physicians’ education on biosimilar agents.

In a study presented at the 22nd Annual International Meeting of The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, researchers sought to identify physicians’ documented granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) use, with a particular focus on filgrastim-sndz since its entry into the marketplace, and identified a slow US uptake for the biosimilar.

Joseph P. Fuhr, Jr, PhD, professor emeritus, Widener University, sees value in stakeholder education about biosimilar products.