Biosimilars

A survey of gastroenterologists, dermatologists, and rheumatologists found Amjevita had the most recognition, followed by Cyltezo, the only interchangeable biosimilar on the US market.

One-fourth of patients who switched to an infliximab biosimilar retransitioned back to the originator, but they were more likely to subsequently discontinue treatment due to an unwanted response after switching back.

A report from the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) highlighted the value of biosimilars and generics, revealing that lower-cost versions of originator products accumulated $408 billion for the US health care system in 2022.

Cordavis is a new subsidiary from CVS Health Corporation that will work with manufacturers to commercialize and coproduce biosimilars, beginning with an adalimumab product.

Drug spending for products facing generic or biosimilar competition decreased during the same time period.

The Biden administration has released the first 10 drugs subject to price negotiation with Medicare under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), and among those chosen were Stelara (ustekinumab) and Enbrel (etanercept), both of which will face biosimilar competition within the next decade.

The FDA has approved the first biosimilar to treat multiple sclerosis, Sandoz's injection treatment natalizumab-sztn (Tyruko).

Amjevita’s revenue was down 63% in the second quarter (Q2) compared with the first quarter of 2023, when the biosimilar launched.

A white paper crafted by the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) outlined that main causes of generic drug shortages and recommended several actions for stakeholders to remedy current shortages and prevent future ones.

Even at a steep discount, the list prices of new adalimumab biosimilars are significantly higher than the original price of the originator product (Humira), highlighting how dramatically its list price has risen over the years.

A new analysis finds branded insulin glargine (Lantus) still has a majority of total market volume and new drug starts despite competition from Semglee, an interchangeable biosimilar.

A report from Samsung Bioepis highlighted the positive correlation between biosimilar usage and average sales price discounts, with the oncology space being more price sensitive than other areas.

Two abstracts presented at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting evaluated biosimilar adoption across oncology practices and highlighted the role payers play in preventing or promoting adoption.

After 7 years, competition for Humira is here. The first adalimumab biosimilar launched in January, but an additional 8, including an interchangeable product, will hit the US market in July.

The Act4Biosimilars Action Plan seeks to increase biosimilar adoption by at least 30 percentage points in 30-plus countries by 2030.

The pharmacy benefit manager SmithRx has announced that through a partnership with the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, it will offer Yusimry, an adalimumab biosimilar, for less than 90% of the cost of the reference product, Humira.

The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, an online pharmacy dedicated to increasing access to lower-cost prescriptions, is partnering with Coherus Biosciences to distribute Yusimry, a biosimilar referencing Humira. It’s the first time the pharmacy has added a biosimilar to its list of drugs.

When multiple trastuzumab biosimilars entered the US market in quick succession, they were able to do something other biosimilars have not in the United States: drive down the cost of the originator biologic.

Abstracts presented at EULAR 2023 highlighted the impact that a mandatory switching policy had on biosimilar uptake in British Columbia, Canada, and the lack of uptake when no such policy was in place in the United States.

New research has found the 340B program is slowing uptake of biosimilars by incentivizing use of more expensive biologics.

The 2023 Asembia Specialty Pharmacy Summit took place in early May in Las Vegas, Nevada, and The American Journal of Managed Care® was there to cover the meeting—catch up on what you may have missed.

The FDA approved Celltrion Healthcare’s Yuflyma (adalimumab-aaty), which is a high-concentration, citrate-free formulation.

Previous studies have found modest uptake of biosimilars in both commercial and Medicare populations. This study finds that the uptake varies between the rural and urban provider settings.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals this week launched its pegfilgrastim biosimilar, Fylnetra (pegfilgrastim-pbbk), for the treatment and prevention of febrile neutropenia, making it the sixth biosimilar referencing Neulasta to enter the US market.