Competitive Pricing in Biosimilars: How Adalimumab Could Shape the Industry

In 2023, 2 primary pricing strategies emerged in the adalimumab biosimilar market: high wholesale acquisition costs (WAC) with high rebates and low WAC offerings. Nearly all biosimilar companies adopted 1 or both of these approaches, yet initial adoption remained low, with a market uptake of less than 5% by year-end 2023.

Drawing parallels with the slow uptake of infliximab biosimilars, Sophia Humphreys, PharmD, MHA, BCBBS, director of system formulary management and clinical programs at Sutter Health, notes that competitive pressure from biosimilars has already spurred reference product price reductions, benefiting both the health care sector and patients. Humphreys also highlights adalimumab biosimilars as a potential case study for broader industry learnings, emphasizing the need to assess factors like interchangeability, product concentration, and delivery features as the market matures over the coming years.

This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Transcript

What pricing strategies have been employed in the adalimumab biosimilar market, and how effective have they been?

That’s a $20 billion question. By the end of 2023, we saw 2 different strategies: high WAC with high rebates and low WAC. Almost all biosimilar companies have the 2 strategies adopted.

Unfortunately, by the end of 2023, when IQVIA did last year's biosimilar report, we hadn’t seen a very high adoption rate—it's under 5%. However, if you think about it, when infliximab was introduced into the market, the first year did not exceed 5% either. This is 1-molecule-based, 2-disease-states based. So I still see a great deal of benefit from just a brand name product reducing its price under pressor from competitors. In my mind, I still see biosimilars had a great win in 2023 to the health care industry and to the patients

How does the adalimumab biosimilar market serve as a case study for the broader biosimilar industry?

I think time will tell, because I see the adalimumab biosimilars are working much harder to promote their products, to work with payers, and to work with patient groups. I hope that in 2 or 3 years, when we look. back, we will be able to differentiate which product strategies were better—and if interchangeability made a difference, and if high-concentration vs low-concentration mattered has made a difference, and if syringe size or citrate-free options enhanced adoption. So, time will tell. For now, I think we are still in the learning process.