What can practices do to prepare for all the biosimilars to treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA) coming down the pipeline? And how can they ensure that the lower-than-anticipated adoption rates for infliximab biosimilars are not repeated? Robert Zutaut, RPh, from McKesson Provider Solutions, tackles all this and more on this episode of Not So Different.
With 1 adalimumab biosimilar and 3 infliximab biosimilars on the market, and over 10 more biosimilars for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) coming down the pipeline, rheumatologists are about to have more treatment choices for their patients than ever before. 2023 marks the US introductions of biosimilar referencing Humira (adalimumab) and Stelara (ustekinumab). With an abundance of choice, come storage, education, and payer challenges. What can practices do to prepare? How can they boost uptake of these products? And how can we ensure that the lower than anticipated uptake of infliximab biosimilars is not repeated?
Today, I’m speaking with Robert Zutaut, RPh, clinical specialist with McKesson Provider Solutions about the influx of these RA biosimilars and actions that clinicians can take to prepare for the large number of products expected to hit the market in the next couple years. Prior to his work with McKesson, he served as the director of pharmaceutical services at Raleigh Regional Cancer Center in Beckley, West Virginia. He obtained a bachelor of pharmacy from West Virginia University and has been analyzing RA biosimilar trends and the everchanging market. He’s also been keeping an eye on the development for prognostic biomarker tests in the RA space.
Show notes
To learn more about biosimilars to treat RA, click here.
To learn more about rheumatologists’ perceptions about RA biosimilars, click here.
To learn more about incentives for prescribing biosimilars, click here.
To learn more about infliximab biosimilar adoption, click here.
To learn more about the influx of adalimumab biosimilars to the US market, click here.
To learn more about ustekinumab biosimilars, click here.
Keep a lookout for Robert's upcoming contributor article on the developing RA biosimilar market.
PBM Evolution Toward Value-Based Care Shifts to Transparent Pharmacy Pricing
March 30th 2025Josh Canavan, PharmD, RazorMetrics, and Chris O'Dell, Turquoise Health, predict pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) will evolve toward value-based care, mirroring the broader shift toward open-cost structures.
How AI Can Help Address Cost-Related Nonadherence to Biologic, Biosimilar Treatment
March 9th 2025Despite saving billions, biosimilars still account for only a small share of the biologics market—what's standing in the way of broader adoption and how can artificial intelligence (AI) help change that?
Patients With IBD Maintain Therapy 2 Years Post Switching to Infliximab Biosimilar
March 23rd 2025People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who switched to the infliximab biosimilar CT-P13 had higher treatment persistence (84% and 91%) than those new to infliximab (66% and 53%), with no new safety concerns.
Will the FTC Be More PBM-Friendly Under a Second Trump Administration?
February 23rd 2025On this episode of Not So Different, we explore the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) second interim report on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) with Joe Wisniewski from Turquoise Health, discussing key issues like preferential reimbursement, drug pricing transparency, biosimilars, shifting regulations, and how a second Trump administration could reshape PBM practices.