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Biosimilars: How Can Payers Get Long-Term Savings?
Jorge Mestre-Ferrandiz1, Adrian Towse2, Mikel Berdud2
1Office of Health Economics, 105 Victoria Street, London, SW1E 6QT, UK. jmestre-ferrandiz@ohe.org.
Pharmacoeconomics
|January 22, 2016
Summary
Governments should incentivize biosimilar data generation and budget holder incentives for price competition to achieve long-term savings. This strategy fosters competitive markets, unlike one-off price cuts, ensuring sustained value from biosimilar adoption.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Pharmacoeconomics
- Regulatory Science
Background:
- Biosimilars offer alternatives to off-patent originator biotechnology products.
- Several biosimilars are approved in Europe, with more expected as patents expire.
- The USA has established a regulatory pathway for biosimilar approvals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze European biosimilar market experience.
- To recommend strategies for European and US governments and payers to maximize value from biosimilars.
- To compare different approaches for incentivizing biosimilar uptake and price competition.
Main Methods:
- Review of European biosimilar market experience.
- Analysis of regulatory frameworks in Europe and the USA.
- Economic modeling of different incentive strategies for biosimilar adoption.
Main Results:
- Direct price cuts or mandatory substitution without outcomes data may hinder biosimilar market entry.
- Incentivizing comprehensive outcomes data and budget holder benefits from price competition can drive savings.
- Past success with chemical generics highlights the power of competitive markets over price controls.
Conclusions:
- Governments and payers should strategically support biosimilar data generation and incentivize price competition.
- Interchangeable use of biosimilars and originators with comparable outcomes requires supportive policies.
- Fostering competitive markets is crucial for achieving substantial, long-term savings from biosimilars.
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