Practice

Biosimilar and generic drugs accumulated $373 billion in savings in 2021, $7 billion of which can be attributed to biosimilars alone, according to a report from the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM).

Ryan Haumschild, PharmD, MS, MBA, from Emory Healthcare and Winship Cancer Institute, offers advice to health systems on how they can incorporate some of Emory Healthcare's strategies to promote biosimilar uptake.

A report from Cardinal Health tells that rheumatologists are more familiar and confident in biosimilars compared with 2020, showing that education efforts are effective and that rheumatologists are more willing to prescribe biosimilars to their patients.

Ryan Haumschild, PharmD, MS, MBA, from Emory Healthcare and Winship Cancer Institute, explains how stakeholders may view the economic value of biosimilars differently based on their goals and his predictions for how biosimilar utilization will develop in the future.

Realigning definitions and policies across regulatory agencies and developing a better understanding of how different stakeholders approach biosimilars could help get more patients and providers on board with using biosimilars, according to panelists at the DIA Biosimilars Conference.

Panelists at the DIA Biosimilars Conference discussed how biosimilars can help address health care disparities and why patient notification for switching to biosimilars must be handled with caution.

The third installment of this 4-part series dives into how providers, administrators, nurses, and pharmacists can prepare for adalimumab biosimilars and what role they can play in patient acceptance and use of biosimilars.

As more biosimilars are granted interchangeability status, 2 representatives from Samsung Bioepis stop misinformation in its tracks by clarifying that the designation will primarily impact pharmacy dispensing instead of prescription habits.

Ivo Abraham, PhD, chief scientist of Matrix45 and a professor at the University of Arizona, describes the pharmacoeconomics of biosimilars and the savings potential for practices and payers if they prioritize greater biosimilar adoption.

Vizient’s 2022 Biosimilar Survey found that health care organizations consider interchangeable designations to be very important in prescription decision-making, signaling the interchangeability could play a big role in the adoption of adalimumab biosimilars.

Researchers found that an infliximab biosimilar was as safe and effective as the reference product (Remicade) in pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease. However, more studies on adalimumab biosimilars in pediatric patients are needed.

Researchers found that the percentage of biosimilar uptake is a better predictor of whether prices of biologics will significantly decrease, refuting the argument that more biosimilars for a single reference product will have the biggest impact.

A systematic review found that patients who were switched from one biosimilar to another did not experience a change in clinical outcomes or an increase in adverse events.

Vizient’s Pharmacy Market Outlook report offers predictions on how the emergence of adalimumab biosimilars in 2023 will affect the biosimilar industry and what actions should be taken in advance to ensure biosimilar adoption.

Two experts in biosimilar intellectual property (IP) law break down the issues that digital health and precision medicine face with IP and the history of case law that has created the current landscape.

Ivo Abraham, PhD, chief scientist of Matrix45 and a member of The Center for Biosimilars® Advisory Board, explains the difference between biosimilar interchangeability and substitution and weighs in on whether switching studies are necessary.

A survey study found that many patients with breast cancer reported receiving inadequate information regarding switching from Herceptin to a trastuzumab biosimilar, with some patients reporting that they were never told a switch occurred or what a biosimilar was.

During its annual conference in Sitges, Spain, Medicines for Europe recommended policy reforms for strengthening European health systems, including the use of off-patent medications like biosimilar and generic drugs.

Having patients meet with a clinical pharmacist before a rheumatologist could help improve biosimilar adoption rates and mitigate the nocebo effect in patients with chronic diseases, according to a recent study.

Jeffrey Casberg, vice president of pharmacy at IPD Analytics, discussed the different options that payers have to manage the growing number of biosimilars referencing Humira (adalimumab) that are expected to enter the market in 2023 and beyond.

Abstracts from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual meeting took a look at the impact biosimilar substitution and increased biosimilar adoption had on spending within practices participating in value-based payment models and the Oncology Care Model.

Gillian Woollett, MA, DPhil, vice president and head of regulatory strategy and policy at Samsung Bioepis, outlines how concerns over the safety and efficacy of biosimilars has shifted and what new concerns the industry is focusing on.

Savings generated from biosimilar utilization could be used to promote innovation for new therapies or funding for more health care services, said Julie M. Reed, the executive director of the Biosimilars Forum.

Posters presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)'s annual meeting showed the successful approaches health systems took to encourage greater adoption of oncology biosimilars.

Ryan Haumschild, PharmD, MS, MBA, from Emory Healthcare and Winship Cancer Institute, gives an overview of what practices and health systems need to prepare for as more interchangeable biosimilars enter the US market.

Jeff Patton, MD, CEO and board member at OneOncology, dived into the controversial role that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) play in formulary decision-making and how PBMs impact biosimilar utilization.

In a pharmacokinetic study, Alvotech’s ustekinumab biosimilar referencing Stelara was shown to have comparable safety and efficacy to the reference product, according to the company’s preliminary results.

Posters from the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP)’s annual meeting examined the real-world patterns of biosimilar utilization and the impact of products that have been reclassified as biologics on Medicaid spending.

Amy Valley, vice president of clinical strategy and technology solutions at Cardinal Health, details the company's Decision Pathway, a health information technology (IT) tool that can assist practices with prescribing patients the lowest-cost product, including biosimilars.

A report on biosimilar uptake and existing policies signals that policy makers should proceed with caution when establishing new policies to boost biosimilar utilization and savings, as many patients and providers still have concerns on their usage.