New industry body launched to promote biosimilars in the UK

A new industry body, the British Biosimilars Association, has been launched to promote the use of biosimilar drug treatments in the United Kingdom, according to a press release.

Currently, seven biosimilar medications are approved for use in the United Kingdom by the National Health Service (NHS), including biosimilars to etanercept (Enbrel, Amgen) and infliximab (Humira, AbbVie) for rheumatic and other diseases.

“Biosimilar medicines provide competition by offering choice as well as clinical benefits and cost savings. Benefits may include enhanced delivery mechanisms, and a different value proposition which increases patient access by constraining the costs to the NHS,” Warwick Smith, director general of the British Biosimilars Association (BBA) and the British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA), said in the release.

“At present, six of the top 10 medicine expenditures by the NHS are on biological drugs,” Smith said. “With many more due to come off-patent in the next few years, biosimilar medicines offer a real opportunity to increase patient choice and access to this vital class of medicines as well as delivering value to NHS.

According to Smith, the “cost savings that can be achieved through the use of biosimilar medicines in place of their equivalent less cost-effective originator drugs will release much needed funds to the NHS when budgets are under significant pressure.”

“Biosimilar medicines are an example of where we can see the future developing already. However, in order for them fully to realize their potential from a patient benefit and savings perspective, policy makers and clinicians need to understand and reflect these developments in their decision making,” Andrew Roberts, vice-chair of the BBA, said in the release. “Without this, the U.K. risks falling behind the rest of Europe in gaining access to these vital medicines.”

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