Dr. Brufsky on Reducing the Cost of Care in Breast Oncology

Adam M. Brufsky, MD, PhD, professor of medicine, associate chief, Division of Hematology/Oncology, co-director, Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center, associate director, Clinical Investigation, University of Pittsburgh, discusses reducing the cost of care in breast oncology.

Despite the December 2017 FDA approval of the trastuzumab (Herceptin) biosimilar MYL-1401O (Ogivri; trastuzumab-dkst), it has yet to come to market, notes Brufsky. The biosimilars that have had the most immediate impact on the field have been Zarxio (filgrastim-sndz), which is the G-CSF analog of neupogen (filgrastim), and pegfilgrastim-cbqv (CHS-1701; Udenyca), a pegfilgrastim (Neulasta) biosimilar. Pegfilgrastim-cbqv was approved in November 2018 for use in patients with cancer receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy.

Several other trastuzumab biosimilars are under development and are likely to be approved at some point next year, states Brufsky. In order for a biosimilar to come to market, it has to demonstrate its similarity in terms of efficacy. The only thing that distinguishes a biosimilar from a biologic is the cost, he adds. In breast cancer, Brufsky predicts that the introduction of biosimilars can reduce the cost of care by 15% to 20%, if not more.