Including Biosimilars In Drug Therapies Can Help Patients Access Life-Saving Treatments

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By: McKesson Editorial Team

Biosimilars are a rapidly growing treatment option for physicians treating advanced diseases, with more than 20 unique biosimilars expected to enter the U.S. healthcare market over the next decade. As healthcare costs continue to rise, some patients are facing financial barriers to medications and treatments. Adopting biosimilars as part of your overall health system strategy can expand patient access to critical, life-saving drugs while reducing the costs of therapies.

Biosimilar products are therapies that have similar therapeutic value and potency as their biologic counterparts, but typically at a lower price point and with no clinically meaningful difference from existing FDA-approved reference biologics. The increased affordability of biosimilars can have a meaningful impact on the healthcare system. It's estimated that their use can improve access to these therapies for around 1.2 million patients and save them approximately $100 billion over five years.¹

The adoption rate of biosimilars continues to grow. In 2021, the adoption rate for biosimilars was at 54%, and the following year, the adoption rate increased to 63% (10/1/2021-9/30/2022).² As new chronic disease therapies become available, more physicians and patients are making the move to biosimilars.

Evaluating Cost and Benefits of Biosimilars

In general, biosimilars are often priced lower than their originator biologics.³ Health systems can achieve cost savings by incorporating biosimilars into the overall strategy, especially for high-cost biologics used to treat chronic conditions. In addition, including biosimilars into formularies not only helps to make therapies more affordable for patients, but it also allows health systems to redirect resources to other areas, such as improving infrastructure, enhancing healthcare services, or funding additional therapies.

When it comes to developing the right overall strategy for your health systems, a partner like McKesson is able to leverage their scale with global suppliers in order to seamlessly integrate new distribution strategies for biosimilars, generics, and specialty products to facilitate the supply chain.

Considering adopting biosimilars as part of your health system strategy? Click to learn about biosimilars and how McKesson can help you achieve more.

¹https://www.iqvia.com/insights/the-iqvia-institute/reports/biosimilars-in-the-united-states-2020-2024
²https://www.iqvia.com/insights/the-iqvia-institute/reports/biosimilars-in-the-united-states-2023-2027
³https://www.centerforbiosimilars.com/view/study-compares-uptake-prices-of-biosimilars-in-us-vs-2-european-countries