Humira biosimilars to have significant European uptake, according to GlobalData

Data and analytics company, GlobalData, has revealed that biosimilars to Humira will have significant uptake across Europe this year as a result of 10–20% lower prices compared with the originator brand.

This trend is set to be further facilitated by the quotas that healthcare authorities have put in place for biosimilar prescription, one of the highest coming from the NHS, which is recommending that 90% of new patients and 80% of patients currently receiving therapy be prescribed a lower cost biologic (or biosimilar) within 12 months of its launch.

“Actual uptake does vary among different hospitals and healthcare facilities, and could in fact be lower,” commented Lakshmi Dharmarajan, PhD, GlobalData associate director of Immunology. “On average, gastroenterologists treating ulcerative colitis, anticipate prescribing the biosimilar versions to around 45% of the total adalimumab-treated population in the 5EU* by 2021.”

Earlier this year, AbbVie had announced a patent settlement with biosimilar manufacturer Samsung Bioepsis, delaying the launch of Imraldi (Humira biosimilar) until June 2023 in the US. Additionally, a similar deal was struck with Amgevita’s (from Amgen) launch in the US, which has been delayed until January 2023. However, within Europe AbbVie has given permission to companies to launch biosimilars from October this year.

Dharmarajan continued: “We believe that Humira biosimilars may not have as fast an uptake as Remicade biosimilars in the EU, especially for gastroenterology indications.”

When interviewing key opinion leaders (KOLs) it was found that compared to infliximab biosimilars, where hospitals have a major role in decision making, individual physicians will have more influence over whether a biosimilar would be used over branded Humira. This was deemed to be particularly true for cases of ulcerative colitis where most patients treated with adalimumab (Humira) are outpatients whereas infliximab is mainly used in hospitals.

Further to the launches of Imraldi and Amgevita, another biosimilar to Humira from Boehringer Ingelheim (Cyltezo) is due to launch in the EU. As a result of AbbVie’s settlement, other biosimilar developers have been encouraged to advance commercialisation efforts in the region.

“One example of this is the recent agreement between Fujifilm and Mylan, in which Mylan was granted an exclusive license to commercialize Fujifilm’s adalimumab biosimilar in the European market,” continued Dharmarajan. “The biosimilar is currently awaiting approval from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), with a decision anticipated in H2 2018.”