The Top 5 Biosimilar Articles for the Week of May 20

Number 5: At the Festival of Biologics USA, panelists stressed the need for patient-centered communication and education to boost comfort with biosimilars, emphasizing consistent support from health care providers despite restrictive payer policies.

Number 4: Because of differences in how national authorities that manage drug pricing and reimbursement view health technology assessment (HTA) tools for biosimilars, there’s an urgent need for agencies to issue clear guidance on when and how to conduct HTAs for biosimilars, according to a recent report.

Number 3: The FDA approved the first 2 biosimilars referencing Eylea (aflibercept)—Yesafili (aflibercept-jbvf) and Opuviz (aflibercept-yszy)—for the treatment of ophthalmic conditions.

Number 2: In Canada, a study on patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) switching to infliximab or adalimumab biosimilars found no change in clinical remission or antidrug antibodies after 24 weeks, but 13% experienced the nocebo effect, leading to one-fifth discontinuing therapy.

Number 1: Two posters from the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s annual meeting provided hope that despite low uptake so far, adalimumab biosimilars can deliver on the promise of comparable safety and efficacy with the originator in multiple disease states as well as cost savings.

To read all of these articles and more, visit centerforbiosimilars.com.