Increasing Access to Biosimilar Drugs

The development of ‘specialty drugs’ in the health care industry has created legal, ethical, and public policy issues because patients are not able to get access to their prescribed medications based on the expense.  Specialty drugs are usually biologicals, treat serious conditions, and  are very expensive with no cheap alternatives.[1] Although there is debate about how much finances should influence medical decision making, it is a conversation that can not be ignored when patients can not get access to treatment based on ability to pay. There should be increased access to these drugs but how to increase access is up for debate. One posed solution has been the creation of biosimilar which are the generic version of a specialty drug. A biological medication is different from a traditional drug in molecular make up.[2]  “A biologic drug is ‘a substance that is made from a living organism or its products[,]’”[3]  while a traditional prescription drug is made up of simple molecules.[4]  This difference means that biologicals are scientifically more difficult to produce because a more elaborate research is necessary.[5]  This also means making a generic form, known as a biosimilar, is more expensive and harder to make.[6] Generally, a biological is “twenty times more expensive per patient than traditional small-molecule pharmaceuticals.”[7] There also are patent infringement concerns when making biosi...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Health Care Justice Pharmaceuticals Drug fairness Pharmacy Ethics syndicated Source Type: blogs