Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (WBMT) perspective: the role of biosimilars in hematopoietic cell transplant: current opportunities and challenges in low- and lower-middle income countries. Bone Marrow Transplant 2020 Apr;55(4):698-707
Date
09/06/2019Pubmed ID
31484992DOI
10.1038/s41409-019-0658-2Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85073779919 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 4 CitationsAbstract
Health care costs attributed to biologics have increased exponentially in the recent years, thus biosimilars offer a possible solution to limit costs while maintaining safety and efficacy. Reducing expenditure is vital to health care especially in developing countries where affordability and access to health care is a major challenge. We discuss the opportunities and the challenges of biosimilars in the field of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in low- and lower-middle income countries. Developing countries can potentially invest in the forecasted costs reduction by utilizing biosimilars. This can be used to decrease the costs of procedures such as HCT, which is a rapidly growing field in many developing regions. The introduction of biosimilars in the developing regions faces many challenges which include, but are not limited to: legal and regulatory issues, lack of research infrastructure, and the presence of educational barriers. Thus, collaborative efforts are needed to ensure an effective and safe introduction of biosimilars into low- and lower-middle income countries.
Author List
Muhsen IN, Hashmi SK, Niederwieser D, Kroeger N, Agrawal S, Pasquini MC, Atsuta Y, Ballen KK, Seber A, Saber W, Kharfan-Dabaja MA, Rasheed W, Okamoto S, Khera N, Wood WA, Koh MBC, Greinix H, Kodera Y, Szer J, Horowitz MM, Weisdorf D, Aljurf MAuthors
Mary M. Horowitz MD, MS Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMarcelo C. Pasquini MD, MS Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Wael Saber MD, MS Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Biosimilar PharmaceuticalsBone Marrow
Developing Countries
Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Income
