The economics of biosimilars and challenges to biosimilar adoption in low- and middle-income countries

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction Biologics have shown marked success over the past decades in disease areas as cancer, immunology and diabetes. However, elevated costs of innovative biologic medicines have led to an inequity in accessibility across the world. While 85% of the world’s population lives in low- and middle- income countries (LMIC), 80% of the sales of monoclonal antibodies are attributed to Western countries, highlighting the pronounced market imbalance. Areas covered This perspective paper draws some analogies as well as differences between biosimilars and generics, aims to address the unmet need for treatment with biologics in LMICs by reviewing possible causes, economic and social, of low access, displaying the disparity between LMICs and HIC, and suggets countermeasures for this unmet medical need in LMICs. Expert opinion It is up to all stakeholders to capitalize on the opportunity that biosimilars provide, mostly by committing to transparent collaboration, to make biotherapeutics accessible to all, regardless of region or country of residence.