by Helen Collis
LONDON, Feb 16 (APM) - Hospira on Monday launched Inflectra - its biosimilar version of the monoclonal antibody Remicade (infliximab) - across the EU, priced at almost a third less than the Johnson & Johnson/Merck & Co originator.
Paul Greenland, vice president of biologics at Hospira, told APM on Monday that while prices varied from country to country, on average the discount to Remicade was around 30%.
In a telephone interview, Greenland said the focus now would be to "educate" physicians on biosimilars, their safety and efficacy and their regulatory pathway, and to encourage their use to gain experience and trust with the product.
He said: “It’s really about education. Once physicians, payers and pharmacists are aware of the benefits of biosimilars and the process that we have gone through to get the products approved in Europe then they get more comfortable with using them.”
Hospira knows this process can take some time, Greenland said, since Inflectra has already been available for around a year in Ireland, Portugal, Norway, Finland, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria.
“The response has been great in these markets with patients treated across the indications. The growth has increased steadily over the period of 2014 and we have a lot of clinicians who are prescribing it.”
Greenland declined to speculate on Inflectra sales following the EU launch, but said the company expected a similar pattern as that seen in the Central and Eastern European markets, with steady growth once physicians become comfortable with its use.
“Once physicians are comfortable with Inflectra, we expect growth later in 2015,” he added.
He said the company had made the necessary investments in medical affairs and sales teams to focus on this launch, in addition to the existing reps already on the ground promoting Hospira’s existing biosimilars of filgrastim (G-CSF) and epoetin zeta.
Brand awareness will be just as important as educating phsyicians about biosimilars since Hospira will be competing directly with Celltrion's Remsima biosimilar, which becomes available in Spain tomorrow.
Greenland said Hospira has a "semi-exclusive agreement with Celltrion" under which Celltrion or any one of its partners (including Aegis and Orion) can sell the product in the same European market as Inflecta.
Greenland declined to comment on the change in size of its sales force but said it had been “bolstered” and was now “ready for the launch”.
In the U.S., which lags the EU in terms of biosimilars, Celltrion has filed the near copy with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Greenland said the companies have recently updated their agreement which now gives Hospira exclusive access with Inflectra to the U.S. market plus Canada, Australia and some other countries.
Meanwhile, Greenland said it was too early to know what effect the proposed takeover of Hospira by Pfizer may have on the Inflectra roll out. (APMMA 41363)
“To some extent exactly how it’s going to work it’s really too early to say, other than it’s probably positive for both companies. The strategy fit is very good. What we already have in Europe is the building of a successful biosimilars business. We are expecting that to continue.”
Inflectra is now being launched in Europe’s major markets, including Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden, bringing to 24 the total European countries in which it is available.
It is approved in; rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis, psoriasis.
The Remicade biosimilar was first approved in Europe in September 2013 and launched in central and Eastern Europe throughout 2014 once pricing and reimbursement negotiations were completed.
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