Medical systems are not always cheap nor available. The growing need for a different type of medication could help change all that.
It might not shock you to discover that medical systems around the globe are dealing with a bit of a challenge. It can feel like medicine expenses are spiralling and the wait time to get seen by your physician is endless. To combat the soaring expenses and queues, the rise of biosimilar drugs has come at a superb time. Also called biologics, these drugs are cheaper than traditional drugs. Why exactly is this? A biosimilar is a medicine that is extremely comparable – but not identical – to a medicine that already exists on the market. So how are biosimilars made? A complex process is carried out with living cells – thus the ‘bio’ in its name. There is a lot of non-clinical and clinical trials to ensure the efficacy and quality is the same as an already made drug. But without needing the research and development of new discoveries, the fees of production are much cheaper.
Whenever you feel like you have a headache coming on, you might grab some tablets to calm the pain. These tablets are chemical ingredients you can get over the counter at a local pharmacy. Biosimilars, on the contrary, are not made with small molecules but living cells. They are essentially copies of a drug that has already been approved on the market. But there are other crucial variations. In the matter of biosimilars vs generics, it’s vital to bear in mind that generics are identical copies of a selected medicine. Biosimilars have minor discrepancies. This is because living organisms are not quite as predictable as their chemical counterparts. But this doesn’t mean that standards will decline. There is a margin of error which accounts for these discrepancies by regulatory bodies. So when companies like Coherus roll out a new batch, you’ll know they are just as safe and sound as the originals.
The manufacturing of biosimilars has risen exponentially over the past few years. Pharmaceutical companies such as Alvotech and Celltrion are amongst a growing number of leaders in this field. But why is there so much demand for this type of medicine? As medical systems throughout the world face growing fees, these medicines are thought to be a remedy to deliver savings. In fact, it is estimated that over a hundred billion dollars could be saved by directly moving into the biologic drugs marketplace! It can also increase the range of medicines available to any one patient. The production of new biosimilars meaning that the patient can choose between more treatment options on the table. This is a great outcome especially for low-income families or people from deprived backgrounds who may not be able to afford treatments. The growth of biosimilars helps accessibility so that everybody irrespective of income can get their treatments they need.