US rheumatologists' beliefs and knowledge about biosimilars: a survey. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • OBJECTIVES: We sought to evaluate perceptions of biosimilar products among US rheumatologists who prescribe TNF-α inhibitors, given that 10 TNF-α inhibitor biosimilars and two rituximab biosimilars have Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval. METHODS: A 19-question self-administered online survey was conducted from 6 May to 1 June 2019, and fielded by WebMD, LLC. Rheumatologists (n = 9050) who were members of Medscape.com and its partner panels were invited to participate. Likert and other rating scales were used to collect responses, which were summarized descriptively. RESULTS: Responses were obtained from 320 board-certified US rheumatologists, 85% of whom were fellows of the ACR. Nearly all respondents were familiar with the FDA definition of a biosimilar product and were aware that an infliximab biosimilar was FDA approved; fewer realized that adalimumab, etanercept and rituximab biosimilars were also FDA approved. Most respondents (84%) were aware that an approved biosimilar was not automatically deemed interchangeable by the FDA. Rheumatologists were more likely to initiate biosimilar treatment for a biologic treatment-naïve patient with RA (73%) than they were to switch to the biosimilar for a patient with RA doing well on the reference product (35%). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this survey suggest that US rheumatologists have a good understanding and acceptance of biosimilar products, particularly for the initiation of treatment in biologic-naïve individuals. They were hesitant to switch from a reference product to a biosimilar for a patient doing well on the reference product. Additional education on biosimilars is required to help inform treatment decisions by rheumatologists. A plain language summary of this article has been uploaded as supplementary material, available at Rheumatology online.

publication date

  • February 1, 2021

Research

keywords

  • Attitude of Health Personnel
  • Biosimilar Pharmaceuticals
  • Drug Substitution
  • Rheumatic Diseases
  • Rheumatologists
  • Rituximab
  • Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC7850535

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85102212417

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.1093/rheumatology/keaa502

PubMed ID

  • 33146388

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 60

issue

  • 2