Laura Joszt, MA

Abstracts presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting evaluated biosimilar use in practices participating in the Oncology Care Model (OCM) and estimated the savings as a result of substituting these agents for more expensive reference products.

Surveys of health care professionals, patients, and caregivers explored unmet needs in sickle cell disease (SCD), as well as the significant impact the disease has on everyday life.

As part of the Biosimilars Initiative, British Columbia, Canada, implemented a mandatory switch to biosimilar insulin glargine for patients covered by the province’s drug plan.

The Supreme Court has ruled that HHS' decision to lower reimbursement rates to hospitals so that those in the 340B program received reduced rates because they received discounted drugs was unlawful.

Despite a greater risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) due to exposure to chemotherapy and/or radiation, adult survivors of childhood cancer are undertreated for CVD risk factors compared with the general population.

Using biosimilar rituximab to replace the reference in a common combination regimen to treat diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) results in similar outcomes.

Real-world studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of switching to adalimumab biosimilars from the originator product confirmed the safety and efficacy of the biosimilars ABP 501 and SB5.

Identifying patients with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) early and before the onset of symptoms can yield financial savings and improve quality of life (QOL) for these individuals and their families.

Research presented at EULAR 2022 demonstrated the pharmacokinetic equivalence of a low-concentration version of the adalimumab biosimilar SB5 and a high-concentration version.

Tisagenlecleucel (tisa-cel) was approved to treat adults with relapsed or refractory (R/R) follicular lymphoma. This is the third indication for the therapy since it became the first FDA-approved chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy in 2017.

Surveys of patients and oncologists found discrepancies between patient experiences and oncologist perceptions of those experiences during a nonmedical switch to trastuzumab biosimilars.

US adults who survived a COVID-19 infection are more likely than individuals who were not infected with COVID-19 to develop incident conditions attributable to the virus.

As biosimilar competition heats up in the United States, payers have more tools at their disposal to manage these agents.

There are an increasing number of targeted therapies in oncology, but challenges around biomarker testing and treatment selection remain.

Across commercial insurance, Medicare, and Medicaid populations, oncology is the top category of spend, and the drug pipeline has increasing specific and complex therapies.

Pediatric patients with asthma and their caregivers are faced with significant health and cost burdens, and biologics provide an opportunity to improve quality of life and asthma control, according to a panel of experts.

Negative positron emission tomography/CT examinations 6 months after induction therapy in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma (MM) is associated with prolonged time to next treatment and overall survival.

Biosimilar adoption can be accelerated or stymied depending on actions taken by the managed care space, explained Sonia Oskouei, PharmD, vice president, biosimilars, Cardinal Health, during a session at Asembia’s Specialty Pharmacy Summit.

Coverage, equity, and value-based payments are critical areas of focus for the Biden administration’s health care agenda leading up to the midterm elections, according to 3 experts from Avalere.

Adam Fein, PhD, of Drug Channels Institute, and Doug Long of IQVIA discussed trends in the specialty pharmacy market in the United States.

Not only did a majority of each group say they hadn’t heard of biosimilars, but those who had heard of them had negative perceptions.

A simple score can identify the patients at risk of severe infection within 4 months of initiating treatment, highlighting candidates to be treated with prophylactic antibiotics.

Increased uptake of biosimilars on par with the utilization rates of filgrastim biosimilars could have saved Medicare Part D $84 million in 2019.

The lack of effective long-term control of eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) highlights the unmet need for targeted systemic therapies.

Patients may have unrealistic expectations of how a new treatment or procedure may help them, and the conversation between the patient and physician is crucial for setting expectations, explained Robert G. Fante, MD, FACS, president of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery and facial plastic surgeon and cosmetic surgeon, Fante Eye & Face Centre in Denver, Colorado.

Predictive models can help find high-risk patients with asthma and manage them proactively, but prior models miss the highest-risk patients and may mislabel low-risk patients.

Alymsys from Amneal Pharmaceuticals and mAbxience is the third biosimilar referencing Avastin approved in the United States and the second of 3 biosimilar approvals Amneal expects in 2022.

Delayed diagnosis of wild-type transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) results in inappropriate treatments prior to diagnosis and worse clinical outcomes after diagnosis.

In Medicaid, delivering care needs to address the lack of resources and other socioeconomic factors that impact patients, said Steve Evans, MD, chief medical officer of SilverSummit at Centene.

In patients with intermediate- to high-risk, use of pegfilgrastim biosimilars could optimize management of FN risk.