Vivian Bykerk, MD: Cost and Patient Access to Biologics
Vivian Bykerk, MD, associate attending rheumatologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery, associate professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses how cost affects patient access to biologic therapies.
Transcript:
Do you see cost playing a role in patient access to biologics?
Cost and access to biologics is an issue, but it’s maybe not an issue that the patient sees themselves because there are always ways to cover some of the copays. So yes, there’s a small cost, and there is a cost to using biologics. The payers have figured out how to fund them, and they figured out formulas that work for them on how to fund what, so each insurance company might fund different ones. In a way, access for patients to any given biologic is dictated by their particular insurance company. The cost is either being taken out by insurance companies, or it’s taken out by government, and that is becoming a challenge for payers, and I’m calling them all payers because they are costly. I think it’s important to note that the cost that’s advertised as the so-called, “real price,” is not what the payers are paying. So, it’s a little bit misleading to say that they are as expensive as they are because there’s no way that’s what people are paying for them.
IGBA 2023: Dr Monique Mansoura Highlights the Intersection of Geopolitical Issues, Biopharma
February 19th 2023COVID-19 allowed governments to critically examine the biopharma space to increase access to vaccines, but there's still a way to go, according to Monique Mansoura, PhD, MBA, executive director of global health security and biotechnology at the MITRE Corporation, at the International Generic and Biosimilar Medicines Association’s annual meeting.
Dr Fran Gregory Sizes Up the US Adalimumab Market: Will Biosimilars See Success?
September 17th 2023On 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.
Dr Joseph Alvarnas Highlights the Current State of the Oncology Biosimilar Market
November 9th 2022Joseph Alvarnas, MD, vice president of government affairs at City of Hope and chief clinical adviser of AccessHope, explains what the recent FDA approvals of Stimufend and Vegzelma, 2 oncology biosimilars, says about the current state of the oncology biosimilar space.
Expert Opinion: What Factors Will Have the Greatest Impact on US Adoption of Humira Biosimilars?
April 12th 2022Jeffrey Casberg, vice president of pharmacy at IPD Analytics, weighs in on the factors he thinks will most affect market share among adalimumab biosimilars when they enter the US market in 2023.
