Dr Bruce A. Feinberg: Patient Education on Biosimilars

Transcript:

What role will patient education play in the uptake of biosimilars in oncology?

I think it is going to be very interesting. I don’t think we know yet. I think that there is a question from a physician perspective and even a patient-centric perspective of how in-depth should a physician be. If the drug is approved, if the FDA has determined the drug to be not interchangeable but equivalent, and labeled for those indications, do you need to say more than the drug name and not the modifier that would identify it as a biosimilar? And I wonder if physicians will take that extra step, only because, is it patient-centric to do so? Are you going to convey to a patient risks that may not be there just because you’re defining a difference where the difference has been deemed immaterial?