NCCN Guidelines May Aid US Biosimilar Uptake, Cancer Experts Say

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) can be very helpful for biosimilar uptake because its guidelines allow for more breadth of use than FDA-approved indications, according to a panel of experts who spoke recently.

Payers view the NCCN guidelines as a gold standard for making reimbursement decisions. Thus, if biosimilars are listed in the guidelines, especially for indications that are off label, it could influence physician prescribing practices and lead to an uptake in biosimilar use, said Bhavesh Shah, RPh, BCOP, senior director of specialty and hematology/oncology pharmacy at Boston Medical Center Health System (BMCHS) of Massachusetts.

Tim Peterson, PharmD, BCOP, clinical pharmacy specialist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, New York, said biologics have been “a significant game changer” over previous, conventional chemotherapy agents. “But we’re now seeing this shift in the paradigm to biosimilars becoming available in different settings, and we’ll start to see more how those are adopted in clinical practice,” he said.

To read the full story, visit The Center for Biosimilars.