Biosimilars, or highly similar but not exact alternatives to biologic drugs, are creating new cost-saving opportunities for health system pharmacies.
However, before integrating the products into a health system, pharmacy leaders must understand their nuances, explained Kristin Chambers, vice president of strategic development at AmerisourceBergen.
She shared the following tip with Becker's Hospital Review.
"Pharmacy teams that understand the nuances of biosimilars will be prepared to guide their health system on how to evaluate these products for formulary inclusion and how to integrate them into the system overall."
Many drugmakers are looking to produce interchangeable products. This means providing additional data that shows the biosimilar produces the same clinical result as the reference product for any patient, Ms. Chambers said. When awarded this designation by the FDA, this means an interchangeable product may be substituted for the biologic drug without a prescriber's authorization.
Currently, no biosimilars have been awarded interchangeability. However, Ms. Chambers said that if meaningful clinical differences occurred, the FDA would not have approved the biosimilar.
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If you would like to share a tip, please email Alia Paavola at apaavola@beckershealthcare.com.