Benefits of Incorporating Biosimilars Into Health System Formularies
Chelsee Jensen, PharmD, BCPS, senior pharmacy specialist at the Mayo Clinic, discusses key benefits of incorporating biosimilars into a health system's formulary.
Biosimilars offer numerous benefits to patients, such as wider availability of treatment options and increased access to biological products. However, their adoption across various therapeutic areas has remained slow due to concerns over safety and efficacy and uncertainties about interchangeability.1 But research has shown that health systems in particular can benefit from biosimilar adoption, as they offer significant costs savings.2
In a recent interview with Drug Topics, Chelsee Jensen, PharmD, BCPS, senior pharmacy specialist at the Mayo Clinic, sat down to discuss key benefits of incorporating biosimilars into a health system's formulary, potential challenges health systems face when integrating biosimilars, strategies health systems pharmacies can use to increase provider and patient confidence in biosimilars, and future trends in biosimilar development and utilization that health systems need to prepare for.
“I do foresee for biosimilars that when they are available, they continue to be utilized,” Jensen said. “That is super important to try to reduce the overall cost of health care in the United States. I will say that there are biologics out there that the patents have expired and we don’t have any biosimilar competitors entering the market. I would challenge health systems and manufactures to really dive into what the barriers are, where the opportunities are. How can we partner with industry to start developing biosimilars where there aren’t any competitors on the market?”
