AP: How new drugs could save billions of dollars

http://www.livewellnebraska.com/health/how-new-drugs-could-save-billions-of-dollars/article_b4a760cc-9af2-52e2-8ded-7647f733c00d.html

Posted: Sunday, April 12, 2015 1:00 am
Associated Press |
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Clad in white lab coats, blue gloves and safety goggles, scientists are buzzing around a lab at Hospira in this suburb north of Chicago.

One lifts a clear vial to eye level as he uses a syringe to fill it with a clear solution. A colleague across the room nudges aside a small group of onlookers who are blocking her access to a cold storage unit. “Pardon me,” she says, before grabbing a chilled glass bottle from the unit. Another man loads a tray into a machine that will test the makeup of a vial’s delicate contents.

Their focus has big implications for an emerging class of drug treatments known as biosimilars, as well as for patients and insurers. Biosimilars are essentially generic versions of what’s known as biologics, or drugs made from living cells that treat complex diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disorders. Because they are copycats, biosimilars are expected to cost 20 percent to 30 percent less than the biologic drugs they’re meant to replace.

Federal regulators this month approved the first biosimilar for the U.S. That drug, Zarxio by Sandoz, helps prevent infections during chemotherapy and is considered an alternative to Amgen’s Neupogen. A leading pharmacy benefits manager said biosimilars for Neupogen alone are expected to save $5.7 billion in drug costs through 2024.



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Minhaj Siddiqui, a scientist at Hospira, tests biosimilar samples. Biosimilars are basically copycats of biologics, which are drugs made from living cells that treat complex diseases such as cancer and autoimmune disorders.

FULL story at link.