Analyses have predicted that the use of biosimilar drugs could cut overall U.S. drug spending by more than $100 billion in the next five years, but many physicians are hesitant to switch patients from biologics to biosimilars, Kaiser Health News reported Sept. 23.
Biologic drugs are those made from living organisms, such as animal cells or bacteria. They're more complex and expensive to make than drugs made out of chemicals, KHN reported.
Biosimilars are less expensive versions of biologic drugs that have no meaningful clinical differences from the biologic. An analysis from healthcare analytics company IQVIA cited by KHN found that in 2019, biologics accounted for 43 percent of drug spending in the U.S., and increased uptake of biosimilars could save the U.S. billions.
In a survey conducted by NORC, a research organization at the University of Chicago, and cited by KHN, more than 75 percent of 602 physicians who prescribe biologics said they believe biosimilars are just as safe and effective as biologics. About half of the physicians said they were very likely to prescribe a biosimilar to a patient just starting a biologic therapy, but only 31 percent of those physicians said they were very likely to prescribe a biosimilar to a patient already doing well on a biologic.
Some physicians are concerned that switching a patient from a biologic to a biosimilar could cause patients to develop antibodies that cause the drug to lose its effectiveness, KHN reported.
"We haven't seen enough studies about patients going from the biologic to the biosimilar and bouncing back and forth," Marcus Snow, MD, chair of the American College of Rheumatology’s committee on rheumatologic care, told KHN. "We don't want our patients to be guinea pigs."
Drugmakers can seek FDA approval for their biosimilar to be considered interchangeable with a biologic drug, which would allow pharmacists to switch a physician's prescription from the biologic to a biosimilar, as they do with generic drugs, KHN reported. But the FDA has so far only approved one biosimilar as interchangeable with a biologic.
Read Kaiser Health News' full article here.