Article Text
Abstract
Background One of the main possibilities of freeing up resources in the pharmaceutical field is to use biosimilar medicines.
Purpose The aim of the study is to describe the impact on direct purchases of a public hospital in the use of biosimilars with respect to the originator drug for the active substances Rituximab (Ritux), Infliximab (Inflix) and Etanercept (Etan).
Material and methods We analysed the consumption (mg) and the total expense (€) for each drug during a two-year period, from March 2016 to March 2018. We then calculated the total annual amount consumed during the two-year period (X1=tot mg 2016–2017; X2=tot mg 2017–2018) and we obtained the percentage of growth (%Y) and the expenditure expected for the period 2018–2019 (X3):
[Y%=(X2-X1/X1); X3=X2 +% YX2)].
Of the total number of patients treated with the drugs we calculated the percentage of naive (Ritux: 64%; Etan: 17%; Inflix: 24%) and, in this group, the percentage of patients treated with the originator rather than with their biosimilar (Ritux: 100% originator; Etan: 52% originator, 48% biosimilar; Inflix: 100% biosimilar). Based on the growth rate calculated for each drug and type of patient we had to consider three possible assumptions:
Clinicians’ same prescriptive attitude.
Treatment of all naive patients with biosimilar or maintenance of the prescriptive attitude for those already treated.
Use of biosimilar in both naive and previously treated patients.
Conclusion If we assume the complete interchangeability originator-biosimilar we would observe a total saving of €1,375,153 that can be spent on other patients.
References and/or acknowledgements http://www.agenziafarmaco.gov.it/content/secondo-position-paper-aifa-sui-farmaci-biosimilari
No conflict of interest.