Understanding the key barriers to biosimilar adoption in the U.S. is the first step managed care executives can take to overcome these obstacles, according to a Trinity Parners report.
Bioimilar adoption in the U.S. has been slower than expected, and a new report may offer clues as to why.
“The State of the US Biosimilars Market Access: Payer Perceptions of Past, Present, and Future Hurdles to Adoption,” from Trinity Partners, provides insight into U.S. payers’ perceptions of the past, present, and future state of biosimilar market access in the U.S.
As part of this report, Trinity conducted qualitative market research with N=10 medical directors at U.S. payer organizations (representing plans covering more than 100 million commercial and Medicare lives in the U.S.).
Godfrey-Scaife
“Biosimilars were once expected to disrupt the U.S. biologic market in a major way,” says Jillian Godfrey Scaife, principal, Trinity Partners. “The industry anticipated increased competition would drive down prices for both payers and patients leading to reduced healthcare costs. This prediction has not come to fruition.”
As of December, 1, 2017, nine biosimilars were approved by the FDA but only four are available on the market, according to Godfrey Scaife. “Adoption of these biosimilars has been slower than anticipated resulting in cost savings far below initial expectations,” she says. “It will be important for healthcare executives to understand the market dynamics that caused this outcome.”
The adoption of biosimilars in the U.S. has been hindered by three main hurdles:
Understanding the key barriers to biosimilar adoption in the U.S. is the first step managed care executives can take to overcome these obstacles, according to Godfrey Scaife.
“The issues are quite complex and not easily resolved,” she says. “Managed care executives can also help educate physicians and increase their clinical comfort with biosimilars by providing more data that supports interchangeability of biosimilars with the reference product. If biosimilar manufacturers could increase physicians’ clinical comfort with biosimilars, more payers would likely be willing to adopt more aggressive policies to encourage the use of biosimilar products and help increase adoption.”