The advent of biologicals offers significant benefits and enhanced quality of life for patients with chronic diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis and cancer. However, finding a working treatment regimen may take a long time and involves trial and error for a patient’s individual case.

 

Nevertheless, government policies that force biosimilar switching for non-medical and strictly economic reasons may ultimately affect patients’ treatment and their well-being, create mistrust in the healthcare system, undermine competition, increase total healthcare costs, and act as a barrier to innovation and future access to new biological drugs for patients.

 

Non-medical switching should consider two governing principles: 1) the physician–patient relationship must be protected to ensure the best outcomes; and 2) patients stabilized on a biological therapy should not be forced to undergo a non-medical switch.

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Second ASBM/GaBI Biosimilar Webinar

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In this online event, academic clinicians with specialties in oncology and ophthalmology, patient advocates, policymakers and regulatory experts from Canada and the US will share their experience and knowledge on medical switching and principles and guidance on interchangeability of biologicals/biosimilars, highlighting the specific concerns on, and the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach protecting the physician–patient relationship in the practice of non-medical switching of biologicals/biosimilars.

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Improved information and protecting the physician–patient relationship in medical switching of biologicals/biosimilars will encourage smooth uptake of biosimilars.

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