Hopeful but not enthusiastic. Preparing but not anticipating. Those are the impression one gets when speaking to medical directors and pharmacy directors of health plans, insurers, and pharmacy benefit managers about biosimilars today. Although savings associated with biosimilar use have been limited so far, one recently released survey of these payers revealed expectations that seem to reflect today’s environment.
In December 2017, executives from the TPG-National Payer Round Table (NPRT) obtained 77 responses to their Web-based survey (a 31% response). At that time, only eight biosimilars had been approved (Pfizer’s Ixifi™ [infliximab] was not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration). Thirty-nine percent of the respondents were from national plans, 27% were from regional organizations, and the remainder were from local health plans.
Fifty-three percent of the respondents indicated a willingness to permit biosimilar use for all originator-approved indications, regardless of the FDA’s approved labeling. Twenty-five percent expected a biosimilar to be the only product covered on formulary. In order to enhance conversion and uptake, nearly half (48%) believe that the biosimilar will be associated with lower cost sharing than the originator. This could come in the form of a separate biosimilar tier, with a fixed copay or percent co-insurance that is significantly lower than that for the originator drug.
Uncertainty About When and How Much
The study results were released as a poster at the 2018 annual meeting of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy last week. In an interview with Biosimilars Review & Report, Richard A. Brook, MS, MBA, Senior Vice President at TPG-NPRT, said, “Health plans generally expect their costs to go down with the use of biosimilars. However, a lot of uncertainty remains as to the timing and magnitude of these savings.”
Indeed, some of the respondents were quite cynical about the savings seen in 2018. Forty-five percent believe there will be less than 10% savings from biosimilars overall this year. A further 16% do not anticipate any savings from biosimilars. The picture brightens significantly when the timeframe is moved two years out—by 2020, 29% believe savings will exceed 20%, and 47% think that savings will be 10% to 20%. Only 2% think no savings will be accrued. This is likely in line with expectations that etanercept, pegfilgrastim, and some oncology biosimilars will be available for use by 2020.
