Barriers and opportunities to drive biosimilar adoption in the USA

Biologic medicines are among the most innovative drugs to treat many life-threatening conditions, including cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Although biologic medicines represent only 2% of all prescriptions, they account for 43% of the total pharmaceutical spending in the USA. This spending is expected to rise every year, as prices and use of biologic medicines continue to increase.

Currently there are 31 biosimilars approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, and 21 of them are available to patients. When first-generation biosimilars were introduced in the USA, there was much anticipation about biosimilars’ potential to be a solution to the rising cost of medicines. While the rate of biosimilar uptake is generally increasing over time, there are still barriers that are impeding adoption of biosimilars in the USA.