With the interchangeability designation being an ineffective tool in shifting prescriptions from the reference product to a biosimilar, Sandoz has taken a page out of a health plan’s playbook: Going directly to patients, offering them a cash incentive for moving to a biosimilar.
Called the Hyrimoz Patient Transition program, Sandoz offers patients a single $200 debit card “to help offset the costs of switching from Humira in the form of a debit card to patients who meet certain eligibility criteria,” according to a Sandoz spokesperson. Those criteria include validation of being dispensed, within 90 days, a Hyrimoz or nonbranded adalimumab-adaz prescription (by photo of the pharmacy receipt, medication label, or prescription history from the insurer or pharmacy benefit manager, pharmacy platform [website, app, etc.]. Once a patient meets the criteria, a $200 debit card is then issued.
This program is similar to that instituted by Cigna in 2021. In their announcement, Cigna offered a $500 gift card for patients taking Remicade who switched to an infliximab biosimilar. According to Cigna, the program was rolled out to 7,000 eligible members.
Sandoz said that the Hyrimoz Patient Transition program was first instituted in July 2023, about the same time the biosimilar was launched. Without an interchangeability designation, the biosimilar maker was clearly seeking ways to both get a leg up on the competition and to erode the reference product’s marketshare. However, the extent that patients’ direct costs need to be offset are unclear, particularly with the ubiquitous use of copay coupons in the category. Therefore, patients likely viewed this $200 debit card from Sandoz as a cash incentive.
With Sandoz’s private-label arrangement with CVS Health’s Cordavis subsidiary in April 2024, Humira was excluded from the CVS Caremark’s formulary. Cordavis does not appear to have offered the same incentive as part of its successful transition to non-Humira prescriptions.
Has it been successful? Sandoz could confirm to BR&R that “a number of patients have utilized this program, but we cannot share specifics.”
Other adalimumab biosimilar manufacturers have not implemented similar incentive programs. Is it possible that some plan sponsors (i.e., employers) or plans themselves might, with future biosimilar introductions? It would make sense to try to incentivize patients directly, if PBMs or payers delay in disadvantaging reference products.
In Other Biosimilar News…
On March 18, Alvotech and Dr. Reddy’s announced that the FDA had accepted its biologic licensing application for AVT03, the partners’ denosumab biosimilar candidate. They are seeking approval for use in both the osteoporosis indications (reference drug, Prolia) and bone-related oncology indications (reference drug Xgeva). Based on the application date, an FDA decision may be expected in the first quarter of 2025. There are now 5 biosimilar candidates and 3 FDA-approved products for this RANKL monoclonal antibody.
Amgen launched its eculizumab biosimilar Bkemv in early March. This is the first biosimilar competitor on the market to challenge the reference product Soliris. No price information was announced by Amgen. The undiscounted price of Soliris is about $6,900 per month.
