ACCC's McBride on the Need for Biosimilar Education

A study evaluating the real-world impact of treating patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) with an adalimumab biosimilar found that providing patient questionnaires early can be useful for identifying those at a higher risk of treatment discontinuation.

On this episode of Not So Different, Fran Gregory, PharmD, MBA, vice president of emerging therapies at Cardinal Health, analyzes the adalimumab market so far in the United States and provides insight into how the market needs to adapt to accept these products and ensure lower drug costs for patients.

An FDA workshop featuring regulators from around the world provided the regulatory perspective on how each government determines whether a biosimilar is clinically equivalent to their reference product, highlighting the science behind their development guidelines.

Laura Wingate, from the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation, explains some of the challenges regarding educating patients and providers on biosimilars for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as well as whether the gastroenterology space is ready for the influx of adalimumab biosimilars.

An approval in Australia and positive recommendations for 2 biosimilars in Europe bring hope for more affordable biologics around the world. However, another settlement for a US ustekinumab biosimilar showcases that some barriers remain.

Perhaps the most significant development in the pharmaceutical industry in decades, crops of biosimilars are being approved and are ready for distribution. What lies next, in terms of legislation and the impact on pharmacists, remains to be seen.