Furthermore, Pfizer has published information on biosimilars for patients. This includes background information on what biosimilars are and the standards for biosimilarity. It also includes a video which emphasizes that biosimilars provide patients with more safe, effective and often lower-cost treatment options. 

The Cancer Support Community has published a quick guide to biosimilars in the US. This guide is available online [1] and gives a background to biosimilars and what they are, how they are approved and how drugs are named. In addition, it gives details on the biosimilars available to treat cancers and how they are prescribed.

In addition, on 15 March 2021, a collaboration between Pfizer and NCCN’s Oncology Research Program (ORP), in the US, announced the funding of 10 projects to support innovative approaches to improve the processes related to appropriate biosimilar adoption in oncology.

The NCCN is a not-for-profit alliance of leading cancer centres in the US, devoted to patient care, research and education. Together with Pfizer, they will be supporting projects run by institutions such as The Cancer Support Community, the Universities of Texas and Illinois and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). These will investigate aspects of processes related to biosimilar adoption such as oncology patient and caregiver perceptions, challenges to biosimilar adoption in community oncology due to diverse payer preferences for different biosimilars and identifying best practices in biosimilars implementation. In addition, there will be the development of a human-centred information packet to increase trastuzumab biosimilars uptake, and a clinical decision support tool for biosimilar use in oncology.

Related articles
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Biosimilar toolkit for cancer patients

Clinical review of biosimilar approved in oncology

Barriers to biosimilars access in the US

  
Reference
1. Cancer Support Community. What is a biosimilar [homepage on the Internet]. [cited 2021 Jul 2]. Available from: https://www.cancersupportcommunity.org/what-biosimilar

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