Adoption of biosimilar drugs by EU countries has been slower than expected, despite the cost savings they could produce. Currently, spending in developed countries on biosimilars totals less than 0.5% of all spending on biologic drugs. Physician caution, the relatively minor 20%–30% price savings per drugs and a small number of biosimilar manufacturers have deterred wider biosimilar use. To help reverse this, Norway is supporting a clinical study to compare the effectiveness of rheumatoid arthritis drug Remicade with the biosimilar Inflectra. Biosimilar usage has also been affected by the difficulty of convincing patients to take part in clinical trials for biosimilar approvals. Among European countries, biosimilars have been most successful in Germany, but are less widely used in Britain. Some biosimilars have proven more popular than others, such as the biosimilars of granulocyte colony-stimulating factors, which have a 50% penetration rate. In contrast, erythropoietin biosimilars have a penetration rate of only about 33%.

Source: Reuters