Challenges to Launching Biosimilars

Ron Lanton III, Esq., discusses challenges in launching biosimilars after they've been approved.

Ron Lanton III, Esq.: Well, there are a few challenges to launching biosimilars after approved. One I can think of is litigation. So there’s been constant litigation between the biologic and the biosimilar to make sure that there is some kind of market exclusivity. So that’s the first thing. The second thing is that the biosimilars are actually fighting the patent thicket, so the biologic or innovator product is throwing up a lot of patents to keep the biosimilar off of the market, so you’re having a fight about that. I think education—so physicians, patients, they’re not really knowing too much about biosimilars and what some of these biological products are and kind of use them interchangeably because they don’t know about either/or. So I think a little bit more education is key, and I know that the FDA has been trying to put out a lot of policies recently to get more utilization out of this to drive down the cost of medication.