Biosimilars, a much-lauded approach to reducing drug costs in the United States, are still underused here, even as they are proving successful in Europe. Why? Two key reasons are misperceptions of inferiority and the intricacies of U.S. market access.
As the head of U.S. market access for Samsung Bioepis, a South Korean developer and manufacturer of biosimilars, I routinely introduce our capabilities to key stakeholders in the U.S. health care market. Early after their introduction, the U.S. market showed little desire to embrace or use biosimilars. This sentiment largely held regardless of whether it was the public or private sector, an academic medical center or independent practice, and regardless of therapeutic area.
Since then, as the market has become better informed, there has been an increased willingness to prescribe biosimilars. Yet market uptake overall is still slow, and clearly there is a need for policies that will accelerate biosimilar use to lower systemwide costs.
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