Transcript: Bincy Abrahams on Biosimilars

Dr. Bincy Abraham:  Hi, everyone. I'm Dr. Bincy Abraham, professor of Clinical Medicine at Houston Methodist and director of the Fondren IBD Program. I want to thank everyone who was able to join our AIBD Regionals in Houston during the virtual event live. However, if you were not able to join us, I would like to review the key points and takeaways from my presentation on biosimilars in IBD.

In this discussion, I explained what a biosimilar is, the FDA pathway of its approval, and the differences compared to an origin or biologic. I also discussed a numerous studies have been done initially for approval, as well as more specifically for us, in GI, in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis

Also, I showed a numerous real‑world studies that have taken place since the use of biosimilars.

Overall, the takeaway is that biosimilars are highly similar to the origin or biologic. We have seen similar efficacy and safety in their use to date. Knowing this data, we can avoid this nocebo effect where one maybe concerned about a drug where we're not aware of all the details and may have abnormal or side effects regarding that.

However, we can negate this effect being well‑educated on how safe and efficacious a biosimilar is in comparison to the originator product.

I also explained that antibodies the biosimilars can also develop just like they can with the origin or biologic. Since they're also highly similar, we should not switch to another biosimilar or the original biologic if one develops anti‑drug antibodies to either of these medications.

We also ended with some patient‑case discussion to clarify some real‑life scenarios you may encounter in the use of biosimilars. I hope you have found this discussion of biosimilars quite useful. Thanks again for watching.