October 5, 2024
Lower med standards endangers health Altoona Mirror Opinion Oct 2, 2024 Dr. Ralph McKibbin As a practicing physician in Pennsylvania, I firmly believe that the relationship between a doctor and their patient should guide every treatment decision. When physicians recommend treatments, we rely on years of training, clinical evidence, and the unique medical history of […]
September 27, 2024
Prioritize Patient Treatment Stability, Physician Confidence Michael ReillySeptember 25, 2024 Biologic medicines have revolutionized the treatment of serious chronic diseases including, arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, and cancer. Nearly 10 years ago, the FDA approved the first “biosimilar” – a copycat medicine highly similar, but not identical to a previously-approved biologic. Biosimilars offer new treatment choices […]
August 27, 2024
August 27, 2024
On August 20th, ASBM submitted comments on the FDA draft guidance for industry entitled “Considerations for Demonstrating Interchangeability with a Reference Product: Update”, published June 20th. This draft guidance describes considerations regarding a switching study or studies intended to support a demonstration that a biological product is interchangeable with a reference product. From ASBM’s comments: In addition to the FDA […]
June 7, 2024
ASCO 2024: ASBM Releases Resource Guide for Cancer Patients on IRA’s Impact on R&D, Access From May 31st – June 4th, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) held its Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL. ASBM was well represented at the conference, with several member groups were in attendance including the International Cancer Advocacy Network (ICAN), […]
May 21, 2024
ASBM’s Michael Reilly: Preserve the US Interchangeable Standard that Has Helped Drive Physician and Patient Confidence in Biosimilars In an April interview with EndpointsNews, an FDA official called on Congress to eliminate the distinction between biosimilars (which can be prescribed in place of their reference products by a physician) and “interchangeable” biosimilars, which can be substituted by pharmacists the […]
May 10, 2024
Biden Administration HHS Budget Would Permit Third-Party Substitution of All Biosimilars On March 11th, the Biden Administration released its FY25 HHS Budget. In response, ASBM Executive Director Michael Reilly published a blog post sharing his concerns with the Administration’s proposal to permit widespread automatic (pharmacy-level) substitution of all biosimilars in place of their reference products; without physician approval […]
May 10, 2024
In an April interview with EndpointsNews, an FDA official called on Congress to eliminate the distinction between biosimilars (which can be prescribed in place of their reference products by a physician) and “interchangeable” biosimilars, which can be substituted by pharmacists the way generics are. Doing so would undermine physician confidence in biosimilars and jeopardize treatment stability for many […]
April 30, 2024
In early April ASBM Chairman Ralph McKibbin joined with the Pennsylvania Nonmedical Switching Coalition to meet with members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Insurance committee to answer questions and advocate regarding the impact of nonmedical switching on patients in the state. PA State Senate bill 348 amends the Unfair Insurance Practices Act to prevent nonmedical switching and a […]
April 30, 2024
On April 30, ASBM submitted comments to the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA’s) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) as part of a public consultation period on the Agency’s “Concept paper for the development of a Reflection Paper on a tailored clinical approach in Biosimilar development”. The document expresses the EMA’s intent to streamline biosimilar development by […]
