Bruce A. Feinberg, DO: Let me get back to that question, though, about how much variance you see in prescribing behaviors and doctors favoring, if we use that example, one taxane over another taxane in the treatment of a breast cancer patient.
Brandon Shank, PharmD, MPH, BCOP: I think Marcus was alluding to it. It depends on what the insurance coverage is. For our physicians, they would usually use the reference product. But sometimes if there’s insurance approval…
Bruce A. Feinberg, DO: And how is that communicated to the physician? Is that your job? You’re supposed to be able to tell them, “You can’t give that to this patient.”
Brandon Shank, PharmD, MPH, BCOP: The state board of pharmacies are also implementing changes and legislation to help support that. And the communication to the physicians varies depending on what that is. But it would be if there was a substitute. We haven’t encountered that situation yet, except in outpatient coverage where the physician was notified of the substitution the biosimilar. If the physician wanted the necessary brand, they could also indicate that on an outpatient prescription order. At an institutional level, I don’t think they have the same control. It goes to the therapeutics committee, which would be chaired by a physician that would approve that. I’m not aware of any automatic substitutions, and I don’t see that right now in the landscape because of the interchangeability and variant data. And the physicians would want to interpret that and be able to use that before automatic substitutions were made. That may change in the future with the Purple Book or through more formal guidance.
Hope S. Rugo, MD: Are you talking specifically about therapeutics, there? And chemotherapy and more biosimilars? I just wanted to be clear about where you wouldn’t see the automatic substitution, because we do have relatively automatic substitution for the filgrastim product. But we don’t have anything. Of course, there aren’t any therapeutic biosimilars, so we don’t really have to address the question right now.
Brandon Shank, PharmD, MPH, BCOP: Now, it would just be supportive care with the growth factor. And I think that would be made at an institutional level. Currently, we give, at my institution, the branded Neupogen product. But a biosimilar, at other institutions, may get approved through a therapeutic committee.
Hope S. Rugo, MD: Right, which we have. Yes.
Brandon Shank, PharmD, MPH, BCOP: For chemotherapy—actually, we should say “biotherapy”—it would be a whole different game. We’ll see how pharmacy and therapeutics committees dictate that at their institutions.
Spanish Real-World Study: Adalimumab Biosimilar MSB11022 Safe, Effective in IBD
May 18th 2024A real-world study in Spain on inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients found no meaningful changes in clinical or biochemical markers or differences in effectiveness between the adalimumab originator and the biosimilar MSB11022 (Idacio; Fresenius Kabi) in adalimumab-naïve patients.
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March 17th 2024On this episode of Not So Different, Ha Kung Wong, JD, an intellectual patent attorney and partner at Venable LLP, details the confusing landscape that is the US patent system and how it can be improved to help companies overcome barriers to biosimilar competition.
Panelists Call for Consistent Education, Support to Improve Patient Comfort With Biosimilars
May 15th 2024At 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.
Biosimilars Rheumatology Roundup for February 2024—Podcast Edition
March 3rd 2024On this episode of Not So Different, The Center for Biosimilars® revisited all the major rheumatology biosimilar news from February 2024, including the FDA approval of the 10th adalimumab biosimilar, the promise for an oral delivery system for ustekinumab, and the impact of adalimumab products on COVID-19 antibodies.
Review: Product Attributes Relevant to Injection-Site Pain, Adalimumab Treatment
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Cencora Analysis Shows Differences in Payer Coverage Between G-CSF Biosimilars
May 2nd 2024Data from a Cencora study showed some misalignment in payer coverage of granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) biosimilars, highlighting that while filgrastim biosimilars are often favored over the originator, reference pegfilgrastim still dominates over its biosimilars.