Economic Effect of Biosimilars Government Procurement on the Monoclonal Antibody Market in Russia
Biopharmaceutical market, particularly monoclonal antibodies segment has been going through serious changes for the last ten years. Along with emergence of innovative drugs, new indications for existing medications and new ways of drug delivery, biosimilars, appear, whose main idea is not only to bring profit to pharmaceutical companies but also increase availability of modern ways of life-threatening diseases treatment. Key competitive advantage of biosimilars is usually a discounted price in comparison with an originator drug. This article tries to evaluate the economic effect of approved monoclonal antibody biosimilars procurement in 2018 and 2019. According to the study results weighted average prices for two out of seven biosimilars appeared to be significantly lower than prices for original drugs (Avegra - 78,53% and Elizaria - 76,6% from originator price); four biosimilars (Infliximab Biocad - 94,12%, Flammegis - 98,42. Acellbia - 98,85, Redditux - 97,33% from riginators price) did not demonstrate significant discounts; one biosimilar (Herticad - 115,31% from weighted average price of original drug) turned out to be more expensive than its competitor Herceptin. The economic effect in terms of the amount of savings due to biosimilar procurement was calculated based on the analysis of weighted average prices. Thus, the greatest contribution to the budget savings was made by the Elizaria, which made it possible to use approximately 3.3 billion rubles more effectively during 2018 and 2019. In addition to Elizaria, a significant contribution was made by the procurement of Avegra, which saved 2.9 billion rubles. The procurement of four other biosimilars saved about 246 million rubles, while the purchase of Herticad required an additional 1.4 billion rubles.