Biosimilars to save billions

Zarxio (filgrastim-sndz), the first U.S. biosimilar

Biologic medications — nine of which were among the Food and Drug Administration’s approvals in 2015 — constitute a big portion of the specialty market, and with the recent introduction of the first U.S. biosimilar, Zarxio (filgrastim-sndz), biologic makers are going to see a shakeup in the coming years as more biosimilars become available.

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Spending on biologic molecules that will lose their exclusivity between 2015 and 2019 hit $37.9 billion, according to IMS Health data from March 2015. Biosimilars, according to an August 2015 white paper by Milliman on behalf of AbbVie, offer a 30% cheaper price than original biologics, which would have a significant impact on healthcare spending. In a scenario where a biosimilar of every biologic drug was immediately available, the total covered healthcare costs in 2013 would have dropped about 1.6%.



Milliman’s white paper noted, however, that even with the number of American biosimilars hovering at one (with the potential introduction this year of an insulin glargine biosmilar), the savings will rely on how deep into the market these alternatives can get, and the idea of interchangeability will be a large factor in that market penetration.



Currently Zarxio, though it is a biosimilar of Neupogen, is not interchangeable with Neupogen. Zarxio-maker Sandoz did not seek an approval for interchangeability. This technicality could be a hindrance for future biosimilars, according to the analysis.



“From a cost savings and market penetration perspective, interchangeability can be very attractive to payers,” the Milliman white paper said. “For a typical generic drug, a pharmacist has the ability to substitute the generic drug for the brand during dispensing. Depending on state laws, if biosimilars do not have interchangeability, a pharmacist may not have this ability and thus will have less impact on increasing the biosimilars’ market penetration.”