A growing number of biologic medicines have been developed and approved over the past decade, improving the lives of patients worldwide.
Although these have been effective at treating numerous diseases, patient access has been limited, partly due to their relatively high cost. As biologics lose their patent-protection, many biosimilars are becoming available across Europe, and manufacturers are seeking to bring additional biosimilar products to market.
These are expected to bring with them the opportunity to generate competition for biologic therapies and thereby lower costs and increase patient access. However, some biosimilar policies and purchasing mechanisms limit participation of competitor products in specific markets, apply increasing price pressure or push physicians to switch patient product use.
These current dynamics have raised questions about the sustainability of the biosimilars market in the long-term.
