Why biosimilars will fail: and what we can do about it

Humira biosimilars have given employers and policy makers a false sense of security about impending cost relief, but all that’s happened is the health industry has once again succeeded in making us lose sight of the real problem. The unanswered question is how and why Humira became the biggest selling drug in history. If we don’t reflect on the root cause of our drug problem, we’re going to have the same hand wringing conversation five or 10 years from now, with a different set of drug names.

The root cause: an anti-competitive PBM model

In a free and fair market, the drug with the best outcomes data for each patient at the best price would win. Humira has been on the market for so long that its patents have expired and biosimilars have been available to 96% of the world’s population outside of the U.S. for years.  Humira is not the best at anything; it is just one of many inflammatory drugs with average clinical data. As proven in clinical trials, different drugs work for different people. For instance, in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) trials, only 10% of those taking Humira achieved a great response (ACR 70 score), while 76% achieved a mediocre to no response.  Fewer than 25% of patients receive a good response from the best-selling drug of all time.

Read the full article at: https://www.benefitspro.com/2023/05/04/why-biosimilars-will-fail-and-what-we-can-do-about-it/