Amanda Forys, MSPH: If you said this to a payer, and they said, “That’s what the exceptions process is for,” comment on that a little bit. What does that mean for a patient to go through an exceptions process, what’s the timeline, what’s the stress, what’s the burden of paperwork and evidence that they have to give to the payer?
Christy M. Gamble, JD, DrPH, MPH: For the patient, it’s “Do I really want to go through all of this? I just want access to my medication. I don’t want to have to go through this process of filling out paperwork and talking with my provider, my provider is frustrated, I’m even more so frustrated because I don’t understand what’s going on.”
Like I said, for low-income patients and populations of color, who are not really familiar with these therapies, they’re just going to be really frustrated and say, “Just give me the drug that’s going to take away my frustrations and anxiety.” They tend to go with the outdated therapies, unfortunately, that don’t treat their disease states as effectively as these new therapies. So, [it is a] very frustrating process and one that most people will just give up and move on to the easiest route—like I said, the 5 As of accessibility—and that’s cutting off their access and creating another barrier that they’re not willing to jump over.
Eye on Pharma: BI Cyltezo Partnership; Europe Ustekinumab Launch; Mexico Biosimilar Approval
July 24th 2024Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) partners with GoodRx to offer its unbranded adalimumab biosimilar to patients at an exclusive low price; a new ustekinumab biosimilar launches in Europe; and Mexican officials approve a bevacizumab biosimilar.
Biosimilars Oncology Roundup for June 2024—Podcast Edition
July 7th 2024On this episode of Not So Different, we review biosimilar news coming out of June, with clinical trial results from conferences and a study showcasing how to overcome economic and noneconomic barriers to oncology biosimilars.
Breaking Barriers in Osteoporosis Care: New Denosumab Biosimilars Wyost, Jubbonti Approved
June 16th 2024In this episode, The Center for Biosimilars® delves into the FDA approval of the first denosumab biosimilars, Wyost and Jubbonti (denosumab-bbdz), and discuss their potential to revolutionize osteoporosis treatment with expert insights from 2 rheumatologists.
Eye on Pharma: EU Biosimilar Approval, Launches and Product Returns, Denosumab Switching Data
July 10th 2024The European Union approves a tocilizumab biosimilar and the US sees another launch, Genentech’s ophthalmology biobetter returns to the market, and Samsung Bioepis shares data on switching to its denosumab biosimilar.
Trastuzumab-dkst Shows Promising Results in Real-World Setting for HER2+ Breast Cancer
July 9th 2024A Brazilian real-world study found trastuzumab-dkst to be an effective and safe adjuvant therapy for HER2-positive (HER2+) breast cancer, with clinical outcomes comparable to reference trastuzumab.