UK lags behind some European countries in biosimilars uptake, new study finds

New research has shown that the UK lags behind some European countries in terms of biosimilars uptake, and there is significant variation in the uptake of different product classes in all analyzed countries. Research from health care analyst Datamonitor Healthcare has shown that, as with generics, the degree of market uptake of biosimilars is closely linked with policies and incentives on the part of health authorities and payers.

Biosimilars have to date had a limited impact on the UK pharmaceutical market, with copies gaining just 30% of the volume market share of their reference product overall. This is despite the high volume of generic penetration within the UK market, which suggests a more challenging environment for biosimilar manufacturers. Uptake of biosimilars in the UK falls within the same bracket as some other European Union member states, including France and Italy, but remains significantly behind Germany, which has around 50% volume uptake.

Factors hindering faster uptake include physician uncertainty about prescribing biosimilars, coupled with the lack of nationwide policies on the part of health care payers to boost use, especially in the retail setting. Pharmacist substitution of a biosimilar for an originator biologic is not allowed in the UK, or anywhere in Europe, and in general biosimilars tend to be prescribed for newly-diagnosed patients rather than switching patients from their existing treatment.