Rising costs of biologicals: effective cost-containment does not please all stakeholders

Abstract: Rieger and Holland provided a report of a stakeholder meeting dealing with the biosimilar uptake in Australia. The proposed policy measures reported may not have a dramatic effect on the biosimilar uptake. From the scientific and medical point of view, the biotech industry has developed wonderful medicines for treating chronic and life-threatening diseases. Unfortunately, […]


An analysis of policy impacts on the price developments of biological medicines after patent expiration

Introduction/Study objectives: A biosimilar is a biological medicine that is developed to be similar to an existing biological medicine (the ‘reference medicine’) for which marketing exclusivity rights have expired. The prices of such medicines are shaped by regulations onpharmaceutical pricing, or the policy of setting the price of a medicine at certain points in the […]


A review of patient perspectives on generics substitution: what are the challenges for optimal drug use

Author byline as per print journal: Helle Håkonsen, MScPharm, PhD; Else-Lydia Toverud, MScPharm, PhD Introduction: With a few exceptions, generic drug use has been promoted in western countries by allowing pharmacists to substitute drugs defined as therapeutically equivalent generics. The aim of this literature review is to summarise the research on the patients’ perspectives of generics substitution […]