OBJECTIVES : Autoimmune inflammatory diseases constitute a complex and heterogeneous group of diseases, representing an important cause of morbidity and mortality, especially on inflammatory bowel, rheumatoid and dermatological diseases. After failure or intolerance to treatment with synthetic DMARDs, diagnosed patients are candidates for treatment with biological DMARDs, generating considerable expenditures. This analysis proposes to estimate the potential cost minimization of using infliximab biosimilar for all indications in a 5 years time horizon in Brazilian Private Healthcare System.

METHODS : The evaluation of annual consumption was based on IMS Health data on infliximab sales in Brazilian Private Healthcare market from October 2017 to September 2018. Additionally, were considered the percentage of annual increase in the number of beneficiaries. The inclusion of infliximab biosimilar in the total infliximab market was considering an assumption: initiating from 10% in the first year, with annual growth of 5 percentage points, reaching 30% participation in year 5. Regarding the prices of the comparators, were used the reference factory price with 18% tax aliquot.

RESULTS : The resultant impact was BRL 407.9 million and BRL 393.8 million in the first year, to BRL 624 million and BRL 559.6 million in the fifth year, for reference infliximab and its biosimilar respectively. The results presented indicate a potential of approximately BRL 185 million in savings for five years.

CONCLUSIONS : The inclusion of biosimilar infliximab as an alternative for the reference medicine may contribute to expand access to treatment for patients with high clinical and economical impact while representing important savings for private healthcare system in Brazil.