Background/Purpose:

In Japan the market share for generic drugs is 50%, lower than that in Western nations. This is partially due to Japan’s insurance system, but the reasons why the patients themselves turn down the opportunity to switch to a generic drug when asked at the pharmacy are not clear. In addition, the use of bio-similar drugs became possible in Japan in September of 2015, but the degree of knowledge that patients have regarding them is unknown. Therefore we carried out a patient survey about generic and bio-similar drugs.

Methods:

The survey was carried out amongst patients being treated at research group member facilities. It was an anonymous written survey. After the section on patient background (age, gender, disease history) was completed, patients were asked their impressions of generic drugs, their attitudes towards changing to a generic, whether or not they had ever experienced an adverse effect with a generic drug, what knowledge they had regarding bio-similar drugs, and if they had any interest in or experience with using bio-similar drugs. This research and survey was conducted with the approval of the ethics committee.

Results:

Participants were from 20 facilities, 2384 patients, 83% female, with those in their 60s the majority. Many, 43%, had a disease history of over 10 years. Their impressions of generic drugs were equally good and bad, 45% each. However, those that had a bad experience with a generic (lessening of effect or an adverse event) only comprised 7%, leading to the conclusion that the bad impressions were not the result of experience. Regarding the choice of bio-similar drugs, 14% percent had heard of them, and about half stated no interest in bio-similar drugs, even after seeing explanatory materials. Regarding changing to a bio-similar drug, 70% said they would rely on the opinion of their physician. 11% of participants answered that they would switch for the cost benefits.In a recent online survey, approximately 28% of physicians expressed a desire to use generic drugs, while 65% of patients expressed interest in using them, showing a gap between the two groups. In the current survey we found that there is anxiety regarding adverse events, and that resistance to a change in medication is more common in RA patients than with those of other illnesses. These factors may explain the tendency of RA patients to leave the decision of whether to use a bio-similar drug up to the physician instead of choosing one themselves.

Conclusion:

There is not enough education regarding switching to generic drugs and bio-similar drugs. The authors recommend that new avenues of patient education be explored, in order to help patients feel competent in making decisions about their medications.

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/patient-survey-regarding-generic-and-bio-similar-drugs/