Posted by Michael Wonder on 11 Sep 2019
We need to make biosimilars easier to get
11 September 2019 - If potential biosimilar manufacturers can’t get their product to market, they won’t proceed with development.
Eliminating rebates, which have turned the prescription-drug supply chain into a pay-to-play system, is a better way to create a robust supply of cheap biosimilar therapies than introducing price controls on older biologics.
Biosimilar manufacturers that cannot afford to pay the hefty rebate payouts to pharmacy-benefit managers cannot access drug formularies even if their products are cheaper.
Last year then FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb fingered this formulary discrimination as the reason biosimilars only have access to 15% of the market. He said that if Americans could have bought FDA-approved biosimilars, they could have saved more than $4.5 billion a year.
