Medscape Awarded Contract From FDA To Develop Educational Programming Focused On Biosimilars

New York, NY /PRNewswire/ - Medscape Education has been awarded a contract from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the development of an educational curriculum and outreach programs on the use of biosimilars in medical practice.

Created to enhance healthcare providers' (HCPs') understanding of biosimilars, the program will include accredited continuing education (CE) courses for physicians, pharmacists, and nurses, covering a broad range of topics on biosimilars. Biosimilars are biological products that have no clinically meaningful difference from an existing FDA-approved product.

"Improving understanding of biosimilars among healthcare professionals is considered a key element of the FDA's Biosimilars Action Plan (BAP)," said Douglas Kaufman, group vice president, Medscape Education. "The healthcare industry, Congress, and healthcare professionals regard the issue as critical due to a general lack of knowledge about biosimilars, and our goal is to enhance HCP understanding of how to incorporate these products into practice. Medscape Education is honored to have been selected by FDA for this effort."

Medscape's programming will include information on biosimilar development, the regulatory review process, clinical outcomes, and practical applications and uses of biosimilars. A variety of educational formats such as case studies and video roundtable discussions will offer CE options tailored to an HCP's knowledge level. The leading source of clinical news, health information, and point-of-care tools for healthcare professionals, Medscape and its affiliate network of platforms currently reach over 5 million physicians worldwide.

"The FDA is committed to supporting and developing education about biosimilar and interchangeable products to help increase understanding about these medications, including their development and rigorous review process," said Sarah Yim, MD, director of the Office of Therapeutic Biologics and Biosimilars in the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "We want healthcare providers to feel comfortable selecting and using biosimilars, as well as educating their patients about them. Having multiple options for healthcare providers to earn needed credits for licensing will make it even easier to learn about biosimilars."

The interprofessional education curriculum will be available to HCPs free of charge and activities will be certified for CME, CNE, CPE, ICPE, and ABIM MOC credit for primary care physicians, gastroenterologists, dermatologists, endocrinologists, hematologists, oncologists, nurses, and pharmacists.

Programs will begin to launch in spring 2022 and will be available at www.medscape.org.

About Medscape Education
Medscape Education (medscape.org) is the leading destination for continuous professional development, consisting of more than 30 specialty-focused destinations offering thousands of free CME and CE courses for physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. Medscape Education is part of the WebMD Health Network.