18^th European Biosimilars Congress

Biosimilars Approval to Biogenerics in Clinical Practice

Biological medicines are much more structurally complex and extremely sensitive to manufacturing conditions and therefore more difficult to characterize and produce than small molecule drugs. Even minor changes in manufacturing may lead to significant variations of the cellular systems used for biological production, as well as to differences in the structure, stability, or other quality aspects of the end product, all of which have the potential to affect tolerability and/or efficacy and increase the risk of immune responses. Owing to these issues, specific regulatory guidance on biosimilars is continuously evolving, and there is some disagreement on which studies need to be implemented to approve a biosimilars. According to current literature, the following points on biosimilars deserve consideration: Biosimilars development is characterized by global harmonization, although several not fully answered questions remain regarding extrapolation of indications, switching or interchange ability, and tolerability; in patients with rheumatic diseases, the tolerability and efficacy of biosimilars in clinical practice remain to be established; several medical and patient associations have published position papers on biosimilars requesting that safety, efficacy, and traceability be carefully considered; long-term post marketing studies should be implemented to allow physicians to gain confidence in biosimilars.