CURA and ERIC hosted a web briefing on March 31, 2020, for policymakers and journalists around the country to learn more about biosimilars—complex medications similar to existing biologic medications that create competition and drive savings in the prescription drug marketplace. The briefing presented new research from ERIC and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health showing how employers are seeing savings from biosimilars despite limited competition and uptake.
The findings, part of a study by ERICand Johns Hopkins titled “Biosimilar Medications –Savings Opportunities for Large Employers,” were released in conjunction with the tenth anniversary of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA), which created an FDA pathway for biosimilar approval. In 2020, only two biologic medications face meaningful biosimilar competition.
The webinar was part of a broader initiative by ERIC examining the impact of biosimilars on the health benefits spending of multiple large employers and, by proxy, their employees and families covered by self-insured employers. ERIC also commissioned two additional reports from Segal and Fidelity Investments to further examine routes to expanding the availability of biosimilars.
The Zoom webinar was attended by over 90 policymakers, journalists, benefit managers and pharmaceutical researchers interested in how biosimilars have brought savings to the specialty drug marketplace—and what more could be done to encourage biosimilar competition. Attendees were provided with a 75-minute presentation, the full initiative report and a formatted fact sheet of the report’s findings for reference and sharing on social media.
The event featured remarks from Annette Guarisco Fildes, president and CEO of ERIC; Dr. Mariana Socal, MD/PhD, Assistant Scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; and Erik Sossa, VP of Global Benefits & Wellness at PepsiCo.
For more information about biosimilar savings and competition from The ERISA Industry Committee, visit the initiative’s website.
