Canadian study says drug formulary policies do not improve biosimilar uptake

Biosimilars/Research | Posted 30/07/2021 post-comment0 Post your comment

Traditional public drug programme formulary policies alone are not effective in affecting biosimilar uptake, according to a Canadian study published in JMCP [1]. 

Label prescription drugs

The treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases often requires use of costly biological drug products. Biosimilar drug products offer cheaper treatment options for patients and can ensure the sustainability of healthcare systems. However, in many nations, such as Canada, the uptake of biosimilars remains low.

A team based at the University of Toronto in Canada, set out to understand how biosimilars uptake is affected by public drug programme formulary listing approaches for innovator biologicals, which have been implemented to improve sustainable uptake of biological products. They focused on infliximab and etanercept innovator biologicals and their biosimilars in the province of Ontario. These have been made available on the Ontario Drug Benefit (ODB) programme with different formulary restrictions.

By carrying out a cross-sectional study of individuals dispensed a biological prescription for infliximab or etanercept through the ODB programme between January 2010 and June 2019, they found that the different formulary approaches have little effect on biosimilars uptake. Forecasts of quarterly utilization to the second quarter of 2022 also showed minimal increased uptake of biosimilars for the treatment of rheumatic conditions (RC) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

The study highlights that, despite differing reimbursement restrictions between innovator infliximab and etanercept biologicals, the uptake of their biosimilars was low and not noticeably different in the treatment of RC.

It is also noted that, in several jurisdictions in Canada that have recently adopted different approaches to improve biosimilar uptake on public drug plans, improvements in uptake are being observed. These include tied reimbursement in Manitoba, switching of patient treatments from specific innovator to biosimilar products in British Colombia and a combination of the two approaches in Alberta.

The authors conclude that similar approaches should be considered in Ontario and globally, to further improve biosimilars uptake and reduce treatment costs.

Conflict of interest
This study [1] was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health. The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

GaBI Journal Citation Impact
1.9 – CiteScore 2020 (calculated on 5 May 2021)
1.7 – CiteScoreTracker 2021 (Last updated on 4 July 2021)

Submit a manuscript to GaBI Journal

Related articles
Canada approves five adalimumab biosimilars in last six months

Canadian provinces expand their use of biosimilars

Are regulatory and scientific reporting biosimilar QAs consistent and complimentary

Ontario proposes regulatory changes to simplify drug formulary listing and cut government payments to pharmacies

LATIN AMERICAN FORUM

The brand-new section the ‘Latin American Forum’ on GaBI has been launched. The objective of this new section is to provide you with all the latest news and updates on developments of generic and biosimilar medicines in Latin America in Spanish. 

View this week’s headline article: Solicitudes de biosimilares bajo evaluación de la EMA - julio de 2021

Browse the news in the Latin American Forum!

Register to receive the GaBI Latin American Forum newsletter. Inform colleagues and friends of this new initiative.

LATIN AMERICAN FORUM

Se ha lanzado la nueva sección del ‘Foro Latinoamericano’ sobre GaBI. El objetivo de esta nueva sección es brindarle las últimas noticias y actualizaciones sobre desarrollos de medicamentos genéricos y biosimilares en América Latina en español.

Vea el artículo principal de esta semana: Solicitudes de biosimilares bajo evaluación de la EMA - julio de 2021

Explore las noticias en el Foro Latinoamericano!

Regístrese para recibir el boletín informativo GaBI Latin American Forum. Informe a colegas y amigos sobre esta nueva iniciativa. 

  
Reference
1. Fenna J, McCormack D, Kitchen S. Effect of listing strategies on utilization of antitumor necrosis factor biologics infliximab and etanercept: a cross-sectional analysis from Ontario, Canada. J Manag Care Spec Pharm. 2021;27(4):444-52.

Permission granted to reproduce for personal and non-commercial use only. All other reproduction, copy or reprinting of all or part of any ‘Content’ found on this website is strictly prohibited without the prior consent of the publisher. Contact the publisher to obtain permission before redistributing.

Copyright – Unless otherwise stated all contents of this website are © 2021 Pro Pharma Communications International. All Rights Reserved.

comment icon Comments (0)
Post your comment
Most viewed articles
About GaBI
Home/About GaBI Posted 06/08/2009
EU guidelines for biosimilars
EMA logo 1 V13C15
Home/Guidelines Posted 08/10/2010