On February 20th, Philip Schneider, ASBM Advisory Board Chair, taught a 2-hour class at the Ohio State University College of Pharmacy that examined how recent and proposed biosimilar policy changes may impact pharmacy practice within the biopharmaceutical industry. 

The module examined three current policy issues related to biosimilars:

• The likely negative impact of the Inflation Reduction Act’s price-setting on biosimilar development and commercialization;
  
• Proposed legislation (such as last year’s Biosimilar Red Tape Elimination Act) which would lower the requirements for interchangeable biosimilars and/or declare all biosimilars interchangeable and thus pharmacy-substitutable; and
  
• Various efforts to reform Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) utilization management and formulary design practices. 

Pharmacy students were given basic information about each proposal, then asked to research further and discuss challenges each policy might pose to increasing patient access to safe and affordable therapies. 

The course is the latest collaboration between ASBM and the OSU College of Pharmacy; which has included a 7-part comprehensive series on biosimilars, led by Professor Schneider and featuring ASBM Chairman Ralph McKibbin, MD; Immediate Past Chair Madelaine Feldman, MD, and ASBM Steering Committee Member Andrew Spiegel of the Global Colon Cancer Association.