OBJECTIVES: The last 4 years have seen entry of biosimilars for the treatment of major autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis and psoriatic arthritis. This research aimed to understand how the lower prices of these biosimilars have impacted the price and access of their respective originators and more generally other drugs in the same indication

METHODS:We conducted extensive secondary research using public sources as well as subscription databases and validated our findings using primary research involving national and regional level payers and policy makers.

RESULTS : We note all biosimilars have been launched as expected at list prices lower than that of their corresponding originators, the range of discounts ranging from 10%-35% depending on the country. We also noted biosimilar policies, different across countries, that have had a direct impact on their level of access. Some countries such as Germany and the UK take a very ‘activist’ approach to encouraging greater biosimilar use. Other countries like France and Italy do not have very strong policies or incentives to drive greater access of biosimilars.

CONCLUSIONS:With significant savings to be realized from greater biosimilar use, some countries have already implemented policies to ensure this. With more biosimilars launching in the auto immune therapy area, increased competition will likely drive their prices down even further leading to even more savings for the health economy. There is already significant impact on the originator drugs’ access and price, to different extents in the different countries, but this is only likely to increase over the coming years. We can see a clear trend having assessed all currently available biosimilars.