Organon, Samsung Bioepis launch copycat for arthritis drug Humira at 85%
discount
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[July 03, 2023]
By Patrick Wingrove
(Reuters) - Drugmaker partners Organon and Samsung Bioepis said on
Saturday that they had launched a far cheaper copycat version of
AbbVie’s blockbuster arthritis drug Humira, while two other drugmakers
entered the market with much more modest discounts to the branded
medicine's list price.
The copycat drug called Hadlima will be listed at $1,038 per month,
representing an 85% discount of Humira’s current $6,922 monthly price,
the companies said.
Swiss drugmaker Sandoz also said on Saturday that it had launched a
Humira biosimilar, Hyrimoz, at a 5% discount to the branded medicine's
price, as well as an unbranded version of Humira at an 81% discount.
Germany-based Boehringer Ingelheim later said it released its rival
version of Humira, Cyltezo, at a 5% to 7% price cut from the list price
of the branded medicine.
Unlike pills, which have extremely cheap generic copies, complex,
expensive biologic drugs made from living cells cannot be exactly
duplicated. Their closest alternatives are called biosimilars.
Organon and Samsung Bioepis did not say if they had struck deals with
pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which negotiate insurance coverage on
behalf of large employers and health insurance plans, to secure
reimbursement of Hadlima for patients.
Three PBMs -- CVS Health Corp (CVS.N), Cigna Group's (CI.N) Express
Scripts and UnitedHealth Group's (UNH.N) Optum RX -- together control
80% of the U.S. prescription drug market.
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Healthcare experts predicted some
Humira biosimilars would debut with a small discount to appeal to
pharmacy benefit managers. Some of their fees are a percentage of
the savings they negotiate and the PBMs are expected to win
significant discounts from the announced prices for health plans.
In an interview with Reuters, Organon Chief Executive Officer Kevin
Ali said the drugmakers that did not make PBM deals for their Humira
biosimilars this year would fight it out over the next six months
for insurance coverage in 2024.
“Right now, it's really about what I would consider the race to
getting on (PBM) formularies,” he said.
Hadlima was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in
2019, but the terms of a legal settlement with AbbVie restricted the
companies from offering it in the U.S.
Thousand Oaks, California-based Amgen launched the first Humira
biosimilar for the U.S. in January at 5% and 55% discounts to the
branded medicine, depending on the buyer.
California drugmaker Coherus BioSciences said last month that it
planned to launch its biosimilar in partnership with billionaire
Mark Cuban at an 85% discount.
AbbVie sued the company, accusing it of breaching the agreement that
granted Coherus a non-exclusive license to commercialize a
biosimilar version of Humira in the U.S. from July 1.
(Reporting by Patrick Wingrove; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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