The Center for Biosimilars® interviewed Wayne Winegarden, PhD, a senior fellow in business and economics at Pacific Research Institute (PRI) and director of PRI’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation.

Winegarden said that Medicare is going to be a big beneficiary of biosimilar savings, largely because it covers older adults who have a greater number of comorbidities and rely on expensive biologic medications. Private payers may also have substantial savings benefits depending on which conditions are commonly treated. Winegarden also said that if net prices really drop, patients paying out-of-pocket could see significant savings. He said that even if the dollar amounts of savings are smaller, the impact could be great for those patients.

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Wayne Winegarden, PhD, a senior fellow in business and economics at Pacific Research Institute, shared his thoughts on which coverage type he expects will have the most robust biosimilar savings: Medicare, commercial, or military.

Wayne Winegarden, PhD Discusses Which Insurance Type He Expects Will Have the Greatest Biosimilar Savings

Hi, I’m Skylar Jeremias for The Center for Biosimilars®, your resource for clinical, regulatory, business, and policy news in the rapidly changing world of biosimilars.

Here are the top 5 biosimilar articles for the week of January 10, 2022.

Number 5: A comparative study of PanGen Biotech’s epoetin alfa biosimilar candidate PDA10 and the reference product, Retacrit, demonstrated 

Number 4: Concerned about patient access to monoclonal antibody medications, including biosimilars, patient advocates in India appealed to the country’s executive administration to 

Number 3: Alvotech became the second biosimilar developer to announce an 

 for a high-concentration, citrate-free adalimumab biosimilar (Simlandi).

 for “biobetters” is anticipated by authors of a review of biosimilar and new biologic drug development in ophthalmology.

Number 1: Seeking to position themselves optimally for a share of the adalimumab (Humira) market, Samsung Bioepis and Organon are 

 for a biosimilar high-concentration, citrate-free formulation (100 mg/mL) of adalimumab.

To read all of these articles and more, visit 

The Top 5 Biosimilar Articles for the Week of January 10

The Global Healthy Living Foundation is a volunteer organization that works to improve the lives of individuals with chronic conditions. Given that, the group has a natural interest in seeing improvements in patience access to critical medicines, such as biosimilars, which are equivalent to reference biologics and can help bring down the costs of treatment.

In this interview, Tony Hagen, senior editor for The Center for Biosimilars®, talks with Robert Popovian, PharmD, MS, who serves as chief science policy officer at GHLF, about a recent podcast series the group did to promote wider understanding of biosimilars. Popovian provides his impressions of progress toward biosimilar availability in the United States and the value of biosimilar education for patients and providers.

Popovian is also vice president of Health Economics and Policy for ConsenSys Health and a senior health policy fellow at the Progressive Policy Institute. To access the podcasts on biosimilars produced by GHLF, use this 

As chief science policy officer for Global Healthy Living Foundation, Robert Popovian, PharmD, MS, has a bird’s-eye view of some of the central issues of biosimilar access in the United States.

Robert Popovian, PharmD, MS, Discusses Biosimilar Progress and Education in the United States

Winegarden said that although he does not know what exactly goes into biosimilars manufacturers’ strategic decision making regarding prices, he believes that biosimilars need to enter the market at a 50% to 60% discount in order for them to have the greatest chance of commercial success. A more conservative discount closer to the reference product prices is going to lead to a slower uptake of the biosimilar. He said that he hopes for larger discounts when etanercept and adalimumab biosimilars enter the US market so that they can take more of the market share quickly.

Wayne Winegarden, PhD, a senior fellow in business and economics at Pacific Research Institute, discusses his predictions for etanercept and adalimumab biosimilar pricing and why he hopes manufacturers will offer them at large discounts to reference biologics.

Wayne Winegarden, PhD, Discusses His Predictions for Etanercept, Adalimumab Biosimilar Pricing Discounts

Here are the top 5 biosimilar articles for the week of January 3, 2022.

 in biosimilars over the past year concerned etanercept and adalimumab biosimilars and access to insulin.

Savings from adalimumab biosimilars, which won't enter the US market until 2023, account for a 

Patients with stage IV nonsquamous non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) demonstrated 

With an FDA approval for a second insulin glargine biosimilar, the 

 for stronger competition in 2022 with potential improved access and savings for patients.

Biosimilars have produced more than $20 billion of savings in Europe, but more use of these agents 

The Top 5 Biosimilar Articles for the Week of January 3

Winegarden said that net price is undoubtably more important than wholesale acquisition cost in regard to understanding the price of reference drugs vs biosimilars. He said that markets don’t work efficiently if pricing isn’t efficient, and having a confusing array of prices takes away that efficiency. He suggested that people to focus on systemic pricing and simplifying the way in which prices are assessed.

Wayne Winegarden, PhD, a senior fellow in business and economics at Pacific Research Institute, explains pricing issues for reference drugs and biosimilars.

Wayne Winegarden, PhD: The Most Important Factor for Understanding Biosimilar Prices

Episode 1. California’s “Pay-for-Delay” Law

Episode 2. The FDA Reaches Out to the US Patent and Trademark Office

Episode 3. The Build Back Better Act and Biosimilars

Episode 4. Defining Interchangeable Biosimilars More Clearly

The Center for Biosimilars® spoke recently with Chad Landmon, chair of the Intellectual Property and Food and Drug Administration Practice Groups at Axinn, a New York–based antitrust, intellectual property, and litigation law firm.

Biosimilar Legal and Business Developments in 2021

Winegarden talked about his analysis estimating savings for adalimumab and etanercept biosimilars under different market share scenarios. He said that in the long term, about 5 years after market introduction, a 75% market share for etanercept and adalimumab biosimilars should be doable and likely. It’s also possible at the 3-year mark after they enter the market. However, after 1 year on the market, he expects that biosimilar market share for either of these agents to be about 25% because it can take some time for people to adopt biosimilars.

Wayne Winegarden, PhD, discusses his savings analysis for adalimumab and etanercept biosimilars and their potential market share.

Wayne Winegarden, PhD, Evaluates Possible Impact of Adalimumab, Etanercept Biosimilars

 interviewed Wayne Winegarden, PhD, senior fellow in business and economics at Pacific Research Institute (PRI) and director of PRI’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation.

Winegarden talked about how interchangeability designations are more important for biosimilars referencing adalimumab (Humira) because they would not administered by a physician in a clinic, unlike oncology biosimilars, which pharmacists do not interact with on a regular basis. He said that interchangeability will have a bigger impact for adalimumab biosimilars and other rheumatology biosimilars because they will have to be filled in local pharmacists often. It also stated that interchangeability is important for adalimumab biosimilars because it will increase the likelihood that biosimilar versions will be utilized over the more expensive reference product.

An economist weighs in on whether interchangeable status will help adalimumab biosimilars succeed.

Wayne Winegarden, PhD, Discusses the Value of an Interchangeable Designation for Adalimumab Biosimilars

Here are the top 5 biosimilar articles for the week of December 13, 2021.

 for a bevacizumab biosimilar and Fujifilm moves forward with plans for an Innovation and Collaboration Center.

 presented at the the 2021 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS), a trastuzumab biosimilar in conjunction with gedatolisib demonstrated an overall response rate of 58.8% with manageable toxicity in patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)–positive metastatic breast cancer (mBC).

Number 3: Researchers who surveyed patients and oncologists about biosimilars and switches to biosimilars from reference products 

 between patients’ perceptions and physician perceptions of whether the information provided was adequate.

Number 2: Ahead of sales and revenues, Icelandic company Alvotech lined up a massive 

Number 1: Long-term survival findings for the trastuzumab biosimilar Ontruzant demonstrated equivalence to the reference product (Herceptin) in a 

 of patients with HER2–positive breast cancer, investigators reported at the 2021 SABCS.