Biosimilar Medications What Health Care Providers Need to Know

biological products have transformed the treatment of many illnesses including chronic skin conditions digestive diseases arthritis kidney conditions diabetes and some cancers in many cases they are the only effective treatment option biologics are typically large complex molecules generally made from living sources like bacteria yeast and animal cells this can make them more complicated to develop than medications made from chemicals though Innovative biologics can be expensive the

biosimilar approval pathway was created to help increase patient access to life-changing treatments at potentially lower costs like all FDA approved biologics biosimilars undergo a rigorous evaluation to help ensure their safety Effectiveness and quality a biosimilar that meets the approval standards has the same expected benefits and risks as the existing FDA approved biological medication called a reference product biosimilars can offer more treatment options for more patients

and may lower costs through competition Healthcare Providers and patients can be confident that the fda's high standards for approval help ensure that biosimilars are as safe and effective as their reference products for more information explore the fda's biosimilar resources for healthcare professionals at fda.gov biosimilars foreign foreign