Alberta Adds Humira Adalimumab To Biosimilar Switching Program

Biosimilars Canada today congratulated the Province of Alberta and Health Minister Tyler Shandro on the expansion of the province’s biosimilar switching program to include Humira adalimumab.

Starting May 1 about 3,300 patients taking the biologic drug Humira adalimumab will switch to one of five adalimumab biosimilars over the next year. Savings from the expanded use of biosimilars will be reinvested into the health system, according to Alberta Health.

Humira adalimumab is the #2 selling biologic drug in Canada with more than $974M in sales recorded in 2020, according to IQVIA data. Humira adalimumab and adalimumab biosimilars are used to treat such conditions as rheumatoid arthritis, polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, hidradenitis suppurativa, plaque psoriasis, and psoriatic arthritis.

Adalimumab biosimilars entered the Canadian market in mid-February, and all three provincial switching policies – in Alberta, British Columbia and New Brunswick – now require patients to switch from Humira adalimumab to an adalimumab biosimilar.

“Biosimilars Canada congratulates the Province of Alberta and Health Minister Tyler Shandro for continuing to expand the use of biosimilars in the province to manage costs, ensure the sustainability of the drug program and fund innovative new therapies,” said Jim Keon, President of Biosimilars Canada, a national association representing Canada’s biosimilar medicines industry.

As domestic and international experience has shown, the full benefits of biosimilars cannot be realized unless drug plans adopt policies that support their expanded use, as the B.C. and Alberta public drug plans did with the implementation of successful biosimilar switching policies in 2019 and as New Brunswick announced last month.

Information on Alberta’s biosimilar policy is available at https://www.ab.bluecross.ca/pdfs/Patient-Info-Biosimilars.pdf and https://www.ab.bluecross.ca/government-plan/biosimilar-initiative.php.

About Biosimilars Canada
Biosimilars Canada is a national association representing the biosimilar medicines industry in Canada. Our member companies are at the forefront of the global development and marketing of biosimilar medicines. Biosimilars Canada provides leadership in educating Canadian stakeholders about the safety and efficacy of biosimilar medicines, and advocates for policies that support their timely approval, reimbursement, market acceptance and expanded use. Biosimilars Canada is a division of the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association. Visit us at www.biosimilarscanada.ca.

About Biosimilar Medicines¹
A biosimilar biologic drug, or biosimilar, is a drug demonstrated to be highly similar to a biologic drug that was already authorized for sale. Health Canada evaluates all the information provided to confirm that the biosimilar and the reference biologic drug are similar and that there are no clinically meaningful differences in safety and efficacy between them. Health Canada’s rigorous standards for authorization mean that you can have the same confidence in the quality, safety and efficacy of a biosimilar as any other biologic drug.

¹ Health Canada, Biosimilar biologic drugs in Canada: Fact Sheet.