Abstract
Objective: The introduction of biosimilar medicines in markets can bring savings to health systems, expanding the population’s access to various treatments. This study aims to analyze the price competition of biological agents and their biosimilars in Brazil within the scope of rheumatoid arthritis.
 Methods: Prices for 14 presentations of original and biosimilar medicines were analyzed from January 2003 to October 2019 in Brazil. Prices were taken from official lists and were noted since launch and during the later trading period. Prices were converted to United States dollars and adjusted for inflation for the 2003 base year.
 Results: In Brazil, during this review period, prices of biopharmaceuticals decreased in real values, reaching up to a 50% reduction. The introduction of biosimilars did not affect the price sharing of biological medicines.
 Conclusion: Biosimilar antirheumatics do not yet have a significant impact on the price of biologics marketed in Brazil. A change in this scenario is expected in the medium and long term.
Highlights
Biopharmaceutical or biological agents are complex molecules of high molecular mass obtained from tissues of animal origin or biotechnological procedures carried out under controlled conditions
The prices of original biological medicines have changed in real terms, mainly in the last decade
It was decided to use the reference prices for retail indicated by the federal government, even though we were aware of possible disparities between the fixed values and those paid by the public administration in bidding processes [21]
Summary
Biopharmaceutical or biological agents are complex molecules of high molecular mass obtained from tissues of animal origin or biotechnological procedures carried out under controlled conditions. Biosimilars are biological products equivalent in quality, effectiveness, and safety to an original biological medicine called the reference product [4,5]. Their goal is to increase access to biological therapy, reducing costs [1,6]. The introduction of biological drugs in the treatment of rheumatic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has changed the lives of many patients in the past 20 years [8,9] They are a new generation of drugs that are effective and expensive. While actively slowing the progression of disease symptoms, they can represent an important economic burden for individuals and health systems [3,4]
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