Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (WBMT) perspective: the role of biosimilars in hematopoietic cell transplant: current opportunities and challenges in low- and lower-middle income countries

  • Ibrahim N Muhsen
  • Shahrukh K Hashmi
  • Dietger Niederwieser
  • Nicolaus Kroeger
  • Samir Agrawal
  • Marcelo C Pasquini
  • Yoshiko Atsuta
  • Karen K Ballen
  • Adriana Seber
  • Wael Saber
  • Mohamed A Kharfan-Dabaja
  • Walid Rasheed
  • Shinichiro Okamoto
  • Nandita Khera
  • William A Wood
  • Mickey B C Koh
  • Hildegard Greinix
  • Yoshihisa Kodera
  • Jeff Szer
  • Mary M Horowitz
  • Daniel Weisdorf
  • Mahmoud Aljurf

Abstract

Health care costs attributed to biologics have increased exponentially in the recent years, thus biosimilars offer a possible solution to limit costs while maintaining safety and efficacy. Reducing expenditure is vital to health care especially in developing countries where affordability and access to health care is a major challenge. We discuss the opportunities and the challenges of biosimilars in the field of hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) in low- and lower-middle income countries. Developing countries can potentially invest in the forecasted costs reduction by utilizing biosimilars. This can be used to decrease the costs of procedures such as HCT, which is a rapidly growing field in many developing regions. The introduction of biosimilars in the developing regions faces many challenges which include, but are not limited to: legal and regulatory issues, lack of research infrastructure, and the presence of educational barriers. Thus, collaborative efforts are needed to ensure an effective and safe introduction of biosimilars into low- and lower-middle income countries.

Bibliografische Daten

OriginalspracheEnglisch
ISSN0268-3369
DOIs
StatusVeröffentlicht - 04.2020
PubMed 31484992