UK NHS slow to adopt Remicade biosimilar - expert

The UK's National Health Service may have reaped the cost-saving benefits of Celltrion's biosimilar of the inflammatory diseases drug Remicade (infliximab) had it planned a pricing and reimbursement strategy in advance, the drug's distributor has said.

Andrew Roberts, director of market access and communication at Napp Pharmaceuticals, told pharmaphorum the drug was being sold at a substantial discount compared with the list price of the originator, which is marketed in Europe by MSD.

But the NHS had been slow to adopt the biosimilar, despite a growing body of evidence that it is safe to switch from the originator to the biosimilar.

Roberts' comments follow a report by IMS showing that biosimilars could save the US and major EU markets up to $110 billion by 2020.The biosimilar has been backed by NICE in guidance covering seven drugs for rheumatoid arthritis, one of Remicade's main indications.

Roberts told pharmaphorum: "There is a big opportunity for healthcare providers. It (Remicade) was launched in March 2015 but it was only in the last three or four months that we are starting to see uptake."

"We don't see any major difference compared with the originator. We have some switching happening in UK hospitals," said Roberts.

He argued that one of the reasons for the slow uptake was that the NHS was slow to enter into discussions over pricing.

Pricing varies across the country depending on rebates and discounts agreed by specific NHS organisations.

But overall Roberts suggested the NHS had been reactive in its approach to pricing talks, adding: "Should this have been done much earlier?"

Perhaps surprisingly, Roberts said he welcomed potential competition from a second infliximab biosimilar, Biogen/Samsung Bioepis' Flixabi, which was approved by European regulators last week.

He said: "We believe this kind of competition is important. The more biosimilars there are available, the more likely the NHS is going to see the benefits."

Manufacturers may compete to provide "value added services" as well as price in order to get biosimilars included on drug tenders, he said.