Wayne Winegarden, PhD: How to Ensure Biosimilar Affordability as Reference Drug Prices Increase

The Center for Biosimilars® interviewed Wayne Winegarden, PhD, a senior fellow in business and economics at Pacific Research Institute (PRI) and director of PRI’s Center for Medical Economics and Innovation.

Winegarden stressed the importance of adalimumab biosimilar manufacturers launching their products at a steep discount to the reference product (Humira), especially in light of AbbVie's raising the price of Humira in preparation for when biosimilar versions enter the market in 2023. Steep discounts will help biosimilar manufacturers obtain market share from the reference product and ensure a strong return on capital, which will incentivize companies to continue to invest in biosimilars. He compared the potential for adalimumab biosimilar discounts with discount potential in the generics market, where having 6 versions of a drug could produce discounts of up to 95%. Although he doesn’t anticipate that discounts for biosimilars will be as dramatic as they have been for generics, the dollar amounts of biosimilar savings can still be significant and the key to success.