Biosimilars | Current Treatment | Immunology | US/EU | 2017

Immune biologics such as TNF-alpha inhibitors are among the most commercially successful biopharmaceutical products in the world, presenting a lucrative opportunity for companies to develop biosimilars of these drugs. Recent launches, such as Pfizer’s Inflectra (infliximab-dyyb) in the United States and Celltrion’s Truxima (rituximab) in Europe, are increasing the competition within the immunology space—not just with branded biologics but with the expanding number of biosimilars gaining marketing authorization. For this reason, it is critical that manufacturers/marketers of biosimilars, as well as of branded biologics, understand which factors influence physicians’ uptake of biosimilars. To this end, Decision Resources Group conducted market research with rheumatologists and gastroenterologists in France, Germany, and the United States to gain insights on physicians’ attitude toward biosimilars, the drivers and barriers to biosimilar use, and the expectations for biosimilar adoption.

Questions answered:

• Have physicians received recommendations to use biosimilars?
• Are physicians switching patients from reference brands to biosimilars?
• What factors do physicians consider when choosing among competing biosimilars?
• How are TNF-alpha inhibitor and MAb biosimilars performing, and what are physicians’ expectations for their future uptake?
• What are the key drivers and barriers to the uptake of TNF-alpha inhibitor and MAbbiosimilars?

Scope:

• Markets covered: France, Germany, and the United States.
• Primary research: Survey of 90 rheumatologists and 91 gastroenterologists.

Key companies mentioned:

• Amgen
• AbbVie
• Biogen
• Celltrion
• Johnson & Johnson/Janssen
• Merck & Co./MSD
• Mundipharma
• Novartis/Sandoz
• Pfizer/Hospira
• Roche/Genentech
• Samsung Bioepis

Key drugs mentioned:

• Inflectra (infliximab)
• Remsima (infliximab)
• Benepali (etanercept)
• Flixabi (infliximab)
• Truxima (rituximab)
• Enbrel (etanercept)
• Humira (adalimumab)
• Remicade (infliximab)
• Rituxan/MabThera (rituximab)
• Simponi (golimumab)
• Cimzia (certolizumab pegol)
• Orencia (abatacept)
• Actemra/RoActemra (tocilizumab)
• Stelara (ustekinumab)
• Entyvio (vedolizumab)