April 29, 2022
On April 29th, ASBM submitted comments to Health Canada as part of a stakeholder consultation on its draft Handbook for healthcare professionals on biosimilar biologic drugs. One key area of focus for ASBM’s comments was mixed messaging surrounding biosimilar equivalence and switching, including language which implies, inaccurately, that Canada’s policies were consistent with those of regulators in […]
April 10, 2022
On April 5th, ASBM participated in the World Health Organization’s 74th Consultation on International Non-proprietary Names (INN) for Pharmaceutical Substances, held in Geneva, Switzerland. This was the eighteenth INN Consultation in which ASBM has participated. ASBM was represented by Executive Director Michael Reilly, Esq., and Advisory Board Chair Philip Schneider, MS, FASHP. The proceedings at the […]
March 15, 2022
On March 9th, a bill was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would eliminate the requirement for a biosimilar to have the same strength as the originator product upon which it is based. H.R. 7047, the “Lowering Costs by Improving Biosimilar Uptake Act”, would amend title III of the Public Health Service, permitting the Secretary of […]
March 8, 2022
On February 18th, a study was published in the journal Current Medical Research and Opinion, which examined US Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA) patients who were switched from innovator infliximab to the VHA-preferred biosimilar. The study found that those who were switched from the reference product to the biosimilar were almost 3 times more likely to stop treatment and 5 times more likely […]
March 2, 2022
ASBM Shares Physician Perspectives on Non-Medical Switching In February, ASBM released our latest video, “Non-Medical Switching”, featuring ASBM Chairman Ralph McKibbin, MD. In the video, Dr. McKibbin shares new data from ASBM’s recent survey of 401 U.S. prescribers of biologics, as well as his own observations on the controversial practice. Among the survey findings: 69% […]
February 28, 2022
ASBM has released our latest video, “Non-Medical Switching”, featuring ASBM Chairman Ralph McKibbin, MD. In the video, Dr. McKibbin shares new data from ASBM’s recent survey of 401 U.S. prescribers of biologics, as well as his own observations on the controversial practice. Among the survey findings: 69% of US physicians surveyed consider it “very important or critical” […]
February 10, 2022
On January 27th, ASBM joined other patient advocacy organizations and physician groups in submitting a coalition letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), urging the Department to prohibit the practice of copay accumulator adjustment policies. The coalition letter was submitted as part of the comment period on the HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters […]
February 3, 2022
On January 25th, ASBM’s Immediate Past Chair Madelaine Feldman, MD FACR participated in a webinar entitiled “What’s the Hold-Up? Overcoming Barriers to the Use of Biosimilars,” hosted by The Center for Biosimilars. At the forum, Dr. Feldman discussed the role of payers like insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in contributing to higher drug […]
January 30, 2022
On December 9th, ASBM participated in the 16th Biosimilar Congregation, which focused on the Indian biosimilars market. By 2030, India is expected to become the sixth-largest market for pharmaceuticals, and has already firmly established itself in the global biopharmaceutical market. Many Indian pharmaceutical companies are preparing to step into the global biosimilars market. ASBM was […]
January 30, 2022
On December 2nd, ASBM sent a letter to House leaders reiterating our opposition to a proposal that would undermine the patient-physician relationship and distort the making of treatment decisions. The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Rules has released new language for H.R. 5376 containing a provision that would pay physicians a 33% bonus for prescribing their […]
