Lee Schwartzberg, MD, FACP: Biosimilar Education for Oncologists

Lee Schwartzberg, MD, FACP, The West Clinic, explains the kinds of education that oncology providers still need to feel comfortable with biosimilars.

Transcript

I think biosimilar education is still needed to understand the regulatory difference between the originator product, which has to show in phase 3 trials that it's better or noninferior to another agent, and that it has efficacy and safety. The FDA approves initial drugs based on efficacy and safety. Biosimilars are approved with less clinical evidence because they're really mirroring the originator products, so it's highly technical in terms of the analytic variables that have to be satisfied for a biosimilar compared to an originator. As oncologists understand that process better, they'll become more comfortable with it.