There is low insulin availability in the Philippines and investigators recommend policy and regulatory reviews.
Investigators reporting on insulin availability in the Philippines said affordability and access are inadequate for many in the Southeast Asia country and recommended measures for improvement, including:
Authors of the study, presented at 2021 ISPOR Virtual, said “insulins were affordable in the public sector, but access was affected by low availability.” Private-sector patients faced higher costs compounded by limited competition. Policy and regulatory reviews to improve insulin availability would help, investigators said.
Insulin pricing, availability, and affordability were reviewed in 6 regions of the Philippines following the imposition of a January 2019 value-added tax exemption policy. Insulin prices were compared with international reference prices (IRPs) and affordability was based on the number of days’ wages needed for the “lowest-paid unskilled government worker” to purchase a monthly supply of insulin (10 mL, 100 IU/mL).
The public sector was defined as public hospitals and medicine outlets; and the private sector, private hospitals and retail pharmacies. Mean availability of insulin originator products and biosimilars was 2.8% and 50.0%, respectively, in the public sector and 63.9% and 61.1% in the private sector.
LPG metaformin was the only insulin that met the World Health Organization target of 80% availability in both sectors, and originator versions of most insulins and biosimilars, along with analogue insulins, were not available in the public sector, except for human short-acting and analogue long-acting insulins (2.8% availability in both cases).
Sources of Insulin
All insulin products included in the study were imported, and 3 companies (Eli Lilly, Sanofi-Aventis, Novo Nordisk) accounted for 65% of those products, authors wrote. Vials were the most common form of insulin available (55%), followed by prefilled pens (41.7%) and cartridges (3.2%). Vials were in general cheaper than pens and cartridges, and biosimilars were cheaper than originator products, according to findings.
Insulin in the private sector was 1.05 to 3.66 times more costly than IRPs; in the public sector, prices were uniformly less costly than the IRP. “Purchasing 10 mL of human and analogue insulin in the private sector would need 2 to 4 days’ and 4 to 8 days’ wages, respectively,” the authors wrote.
Although affordability was based on wages of the lowest-paid government workers, the authors noted that “a significant portion of the population earns less than the lowest-paid government worker.”
Study Documents HCPs’ Experiences of a Mandatory Switch to Inform Future Transitions
December 2nd 2023A survey explores the experiences of health care providers (HCP) throughout the transition process following a mandatory switch from the adalimumab originator (Humira) to a biosimilar in New Zealand in 2022.
What AmerisourceBergen's Report Reveals About Payers, Biosimilar Pricing Trends
May 28th 2023On this episode of Not So Different, Tasmina Hydery and Brian Biehn from AmerisourceBergen discussed results from a recent survey, that were also presented at Asembia 2023, diving into the payer perspective on biosimilars and current pricing trends across the US biosimilar industry.
How Community Oncologists Can Break Down Biosimilar Adoption Barriers
March 19th 2023On this episode of Not So Different, Mark Guyot, senior director of unity provider engagement at McKesson, gives an overview of McKesson’s real-world analysis of community oncology practices and their use of biosimilars and offers advice on overcoming adoption barriers and expanding education efforts.
Panelists Deliberate Strategies to Enhance Biosimilar Integration in Managed Care Spaces
November 13th 2023At the recent Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Nexus meeting, panelists discussed the impact of introducing biosimilars in new medical fields, emphasizing the need for more education and collaboration to ensure their smooth integration into health care systems.
Eye on Pharma: Denosumab Biosimilar Data; COA Forms New Committee; IGBA and WHO Collaborate
November 8th 2023Samsung Bioepis releases data for its denosumab biosimilar candidate; the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) forms the Drug Policy and Regulation Committee; the International Generic and Biosimilar Association (IGBA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) collaborate on a new initiative.