Background/Purpose:

Biosimilar infliximab has been approved by EMA based on comparable quality, safety and efficacy profile to infliximab for the management of inflammatory autoimmune disorders including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis (UC), psoriatic arthritis (PsA), and psoriasis. Recent studies have shown considerable potential savings through the use of biosimilars for the investigated classes of biological drugs, for instance, the first generation biosimilar filgrastim which decreased the treatment cost by its introduction in oncology field. 

Methods:

We aimed to evaluate the budget impact of the introduction of biosimilar infliximab in treatment of Rheumatoid arthritis from the payer and the patient perspectives by using an Excel based budget-impact model over a five-year time horizon. The model calculated patients eligible for infliximab treatment based on the total population, annual population growth rate and prevalence of RA in 4 major EU countries; UK, Italy, France, and Germany. The acquisition cost of comparator infliximab was assumed not to change after the introduction of biosimilar mAb. The price of the biosimilar infliximab is currently unknown, therefore three different discount scenarios (10%, 20%, and 30%) were applied to evaluate the budget impact. Market uptake growth rate was also varied in each of the scenarios at 20%, 30%, and 40%, respectively. The market share was assumed to be 25% in the first year in all scenarios.     

Results:

The total budget saving for the 10% price discount scenario for all four countries for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 was € 12,880,000, € 15,450,000, € 18,560,000, € 22,260,000, and € 26,710,000, respectively. The total budget saving for the 20% price discount scenario for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 was €25,750,000, €33,490,000, €43,550,000, € 56,610,000, and € 73,600,000, respectively. The total budget saving for the 30% price discount scenario for 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 was € 38,630,000, € 64,630,000, € 75,740,000 €106,050,000, and € 148,470,000, respectively. The total budget saving over the five year period (2015 -2019) for all four countries was € 95,860,000, €233,000,000, and € 433,520,000 for the 10%, 20%, and 30% price discount scenarios, respectively.

Conclusion:

The introduction of the biosimilar infliximab as a treatment option for patients with Rheumatoid arthritis could achieve substantial cost savings. In the scenarios tested, the total 5 year saving across UK, Italy, France and Germnay ranged from € 96 million to € 433 million.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/5-year-budget-impact-analysis-of-biosimilar-infliximab-for-the-treatment-of-rheumatoid-arthritis-in-uk-italy-france-and-germany/