Safe Biologics

By Helena R. Berger, Executive Vice President & CEO, American Association of People with Disabilities
Buffalo News

The future of medicine is biologic drugs. Not only have they revolutionized the medical treatments of serious diseases, they have also transformed treatments for many people with disabilities – from offering new promise to people with multiple sclerosis to aiding those with debilitating arthritis.

A lot has been written about how the Food and Drug Administration may soon approve biosimilars, the first attempted copies of biologics. But as part of an ongoing commitment to support efforts to assure accessible, high-quality and affordable health care for people with disabilities, we must ensure that patient safety is at the forefront of public policy discussions as they relate to their approval and usage.

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By Helena R. Berger, Executive Vice President & CEO, American Association of People with Disabilities
Buffalo News

The future of medicine is biologic drugs. Not only have they revolutionized the medical treatments of serious diseases, they have also transformed treatments for many people with disabilities – from offering new promise to people with multiple sclerosis to aiding those with debilitating arthritis.

A lot has been written about how the Food and Drug Administration may soon approve biosimilars, the first attempted copies of biologics. But as part of an ongoing commitment to support efforts to assure accessible, high-quality and affordable health care for people with disabilities, we must ensure that patient safety is at the forefront of public policy discussions as they relate to their approval and usage.

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Orange County Register
By Thair Phillips, President, RetireSafe

The biotech revolution has brought hope to millions of Americans coping with some of the most devastating medical conditions, including cancer, Parkinson’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis. New prescription drugs, known as biologics, that were born of this revolution now comprise the fastest-growing segment of the pharmaceutical market and could account for half of all new drugs approved by 2015.

With intense pressure on governments to control rising health care costs, a push is underway to introduce lower-cost biotech medicines that function more or less as equivalents of these biologics. But a host of complicating factors surrounding biologics – not least of which is patient safety – have doctors, patients, drug companies, and regulators trying to work through the thorny problems unique to these drugs.

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