Addressing the cost of prescription drugs is a critical step in ensuring access to high-quality health care at an affordable price. Enter biosimilars. A biosimilar medication is highly comparable to its brand counterpart with no clinically meaningful difference in safety, purity, or potency, according to the FDA (PDF, 285 KB). Biosimilars ensure quality care at a fraction of the cost, significantly reducing member out-of-pocket expenses.
Investing in the development and launch of biosimilars provides more than low-cost options: it drives market competition, further lowering prices across the board. With biosimilars revealing some of the inflated costs imposed by manufacturers, additional price drivers also come under scrutiny.
The drug patent policies in the U.S lack transparency, with pharmaceutical manufacturers using their regulatory influence to maintain the status quo. The momentum, however, is shifting as the patent monopolies on 7 of 10 of America’s top-selling drugs are set to expire this decade. Driving the adoption of biosimilars and compelling regulators to reconfigure the patent system will increase market competition – and help lower the cost of care for all Americans.
You can read more about Blue Shield’s work in prescription drug savings here.
