Sector News

Categories

Borderless Insights

Image
Negotiating Terms with a New Employer
Image
Beyond Flowers and Platitudes: Reclaiming the Essence of International Women’s Day
Image
Visionary or ‘Stuck-in-the-Mud’? Where are you on Workplace Flexibility?

Will docs jump on new biosims? Survey shows they’ll need some nudging

August 17, 2015
Life sciences
Drugmakers are well aware of the biosimilars threatening to steal sales and market share from some of the world’s best-selling biologics.
 
Doctors, though? Not so much, a new report suggests.
 
Doctor platform and community QuantiaMD recently surveyed 300 primary care physicians and specialists to find out just how much healthcare providers knew about the drugs. 78% of those polled said they were familiar with the term “biosimilar,” but only 38% could name one under consideration for FDA approval that would be relevant to their patients, Medical Marketing & Media report.
 
To make matters worse, only 17% of the doctors Quantia deemed most likely to prescribe biologics–and, thus, the most likely to prescribe biosimilars in the future–said they were “very likely” to do so. 70% said they either weren’t sure or were “somewhat likely” to write a biosimilar script.
 
That’s a problem for the copycat pharmas looking to steal a piece of the pie from blockbusters like Amgen’s Neupogen, AbbVie’s Humira and Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade. Whether biosimilars pick up steam will largely depend on doctors–and on their likelihood to order them for patients.
 
Right now, only one biosimilar has FDA approval, and that’s Zarxio, a Novartis copy of Neupogen that won’t roll out until September, per court orders.
 
In the meantime, though, what can drugmakers do to get the word out to docs? “There’s a lot of opportunity for education,” Rachel Daricek, QuantiaMD’s senior director of client services, told MM&M. ” … They haven’t seen any efficacy and safety data or seen any communication from pharma or their organization–they don’t know what to think.”
 
By Carly Helfand
 

comments closed

Related News

May 17, 2024

With new partnership, Galapagos takes decentralized CAR-T manufacturing quest nationwide

Life sciences

Though Galapagos has undergone plenty of staff shake-ups and strategy revamps in recent years, the company is sticking strong to the CAR-T pivot first unveiled by CEO Paul Stoffels, M.D., following his arrival at the biotech from Johnson & Johnson in early 2022.

Read more
May 17, 2024

Sanofi invests €1 Billion to boost drug manufacturing in France

Life sciences

The new investment is expected to create more than 500 jobs and significantly strengthen France’s ability to control the production of essential medicines from start to finish, the company stated. According to Sanofi, this plan increases the amount Sanofi has committed to major projects in France since the Covid-19 pandemic to over €3.5 billion.

Read more
May 17, 2024

Lonza, busy with capacity upgrades and exec turnover, hints at CDMO industry rebound

Life sciences

A tough biotech funding environment and a downturn in COVID-related contracts has weighed heavily on CDMOs of all stripes in recent years. Now, with a new CEO waiting in the wings, Swiss manufacturing juggernaut Lonza is attempting to reassure the market that an industry stabilization is on the horizon.

Read more
More news

How can we help you?

We're easy to reach