Though the FDA has taken great efforts in the past year to stand up for biosimilars and establish the BAP, one expert argues the agency can do more to confidently and simply underscore the quality of biosimilar products and to reconsider the need for the additional studies required of biosimilars, especially — but not just limited to — clinical studies.
I sat down with Kate Hammeke, VP of Industry Standard Research to discuss the biggest surprises or takeaways from this year’s report about the industry’s biologics and biosimilars manufacturing goals. But the conversation also evolved to some of the larger trends Hammeke expects to see impacting the biosimilar players in the future.
Since last year's feature article celebrating Samsung Bioepis' fifth anniversary, the company has seen a number of approvals and launches and has established a novel biologics development partnership. As such, I jumped on the opportunity to learn more about the company's ongoing efforts to realize a lower COGS, speed production, and manage risk in biosimilar and biologics development.
Biopharma executives have warned they need more biologics development and manufacturing capacities, particularly in North America. They haven’t been howling at the moon. Four announcements – within two days of each other – offer a sign of relief. And Amgen has provided Outsourced Pharma with its first public estimate of costs for one of those facilities.
There has not been much discussion about how biosimilars contribute to or will impact innovation — outside of helping the healthcare system afford costly novel therapies. I found my interest in this question sparked upon reading a recent headline, "Biosimilars: The Cure for Sky-High Drug Prices Or A Stake In The Heart Of Innovation?"
Last week, I published the first installment of a three-part roundtable discussion highlighting which 2017 trends/occurrences were most notable to the members of Biosimilar Development’s editorial advisory board. In addition to discussing 2017’s impact on the future of the industry, these experts also shared their thoughts on what to expect in 2018.
These top five events reflect the steps the numerous industry stakeholders are taking to build what they hope will be a biosimilar friendly framework in the U.S. Though a number of these developments could bring positive implications for the biosimilar industry moving forward, several of these have raised a number of questions and concerns.
Experts from Adello Biologics, PA Consulting Group, Momenta Pharmaceuticals, and Avalere Health, share which trends and challenges they’re watching closely, along with how the industry could “break from tradition” in the next few years.
You may feel “tradition” is not yet a realized concept in the biosimilar industry — and I would agree with you. But this didn’t stop me from asking several experts which areas they felt could stand more attention or redirection in the future. And they left no stone unturned.
During the DIA Biosimilars 2017 conference, there were three topics of discussion that, arguably, could remove barriers to biosimilar development and advance it. But a phrase that was regularly used over the two days highlights one of the biggest issues standing in front of this industry: “There are more questions than answers.”
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