Patients from Uruguay request that non-interchangeability of biotherapeutics be regulated

Biosimilars/General | Posted 03/12/2021 post-comment0 Post your comment

Patients demand guarantees that authorities will not make switches of biotherapeutic drugs solely for economic reasons and without considering the medical decision. This was expressed by the Uruguay Patients Alliance at the First National Biotechnology Forum. The main objective of this forum was to create a meeting place for the academic world, patients and health authorities in the field of biotechnology and innovation.

Patient MD002316 V13C05

Therapeutic interchangeability refers to the possibility of a physician substituting one drug for another, depending on the patient's requirements. The implementation of interchangeability in Latin America began at the beginning of the first decade of the 21st century, promoted by a task force of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), and Uruguay began to legislate on the matter in January 2007.

In the event that Uruguay begins to experience switches with biosimilars, patients are requesting a more active participation in the decisions and applauded the creation of the Health Technology Assessment Agency, which is presented as the ideal environment for this type of analysis and evaluation.

The patient associations that participated in the forum agreed that for many patients affected by inflammatory autoimmune diseases finding the right treatment is a challenging path that can take years, furthermore, the full effect of switching an innovative drug for a biosimilar or vice versa is unknown, as switching in stable patients can affect clinical outcomes. They insisted on the need to respect the patients who are undergoing treatment and not to switch their medication for purely economic reasons. They demanded that proven efficacy and safety be taken into account when making decisions and that interchangeability be avoided so as not to generate more uncertainty for the patient.

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LATIN AMERICAN FORUM

The new section of 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.

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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.

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