10. Aug. 2016, FiercePharma, Tracy Staton
Copay discount programsbecome popular among biosimilar manufacturers to boost the adoption of their products. These copay assistence programs can come in form of upfront out-of-pocket financial support (e.g. Sun Pharmaceuticals for their Gleevec-alike imatinib mesylate) or the reduction of upfront cost to the patients (e.g. the cost of the first cycle for Novartis-Sandoz’ filgrastim. These programs will steer patients toward lower-cost therapies and therefore, payers will probably not be opposed to them. In line with such actions, payers have started to eliminate the originator biologics from their formularies and replace them with the more affordable biosimilars.