In light of all the noise surrounding this Act, I reached out to reimbursement policy guru and Biosimilar Development editorial board member extraordinaire, Molly Burich. Here, she shares her initial thoughts on how several proposed changes to alter reimbursement under Medicare Part B and D could play out in the biosimilar space should the bill be made law.
In light of BioApproval's Chris Webster’s recent publication and future presentation at the upcoming DIA Biosimilars conference, I spoke with him to learn more about the "Confirmation of Sufficient Likeness" approach and the scientific evidence that has informed this proposed biosimilar regulatory paradigm shift away from Totality of Evidence.
During our discussion, I learned more about this patient organization and its biosimilar education goals, as well as what type of information could be particularly helpful for the breast cancer patient community at this point in time.
Not only are the issues impacting cell and gene therapies relatable on the biosimilar side, I’m hoping this particular strategy can inspire creative thinking as scrutiny into the buy-and-bill landscape continues to intensify.
Because negative news and opinions seem to create greater waves, I thought I would take stock of the positive news that may not have come over your desks or (more realistically) cellphones in the past few weeks. While it’s easy to get bogged down by negative speculation, there’s progress being made and companies and experts fighting daily to keep this industry moving forward, even if it feels glacial.
Even though the FDA has argued quite passionately against the need for biologics standards, there are several reasons why I hesitate to embrace their arguments that having these standards in place (and requiring they be met) could be harmful to biosimilars.
Though this event encompassed a small cross-section of employers, the discussions and questions asked about biosimilars revealed the topics that need to be considered, reiterated, and regularly reinforced.
Though it’s only natural to expect animated scientific discussion between the FDA and USP which have long been partners-in-science, I found myself caught off-guard by just how firmly the FDA has been putting its foot down and making its thoughts known on the role certain standards — in particular, USP monographs — should (or should not play) in biologics development.
While we’ve certainly seen progress on the march towards true global development, there’s still a way to go. There were several points I learned recently that stood out about which regulatory inconsistencies still exist between developed nations, as well as how certain aspects of regulatory science can be improved upon in the future.
ISPOR, the professional society for health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), recently held its annual conference, which brought together nearly 4,000 researchers, regulators, payers, drug developers, providers, and other stakeholders from across the healthcare continuum. During one panel session, experts in biosimilar regulatory, legal, and reimbursement discussed the crucial elements needed to foster a robust and sustainable U.S. biosimilars marketplace over the long term.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|