ASCO Abstract Highlights Growing Comfortability with Trastuzumab Biosimilars

A recent abstract presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO 2023) looked at growing utilization of trastuzumab biosimilars over time. This study assessed trends in physician use of trastuzumab in India. Investigators found that sales data on trastuzumab products coincided with the results of a physician perception survey, showing increased utilization of trastuzumab biosimilars over the last seven years.

The original survey was concentrated on physician perceptions on using trastuzumab biosimilars in HER2-positive breast cancer and changes in trends from before trastuzumab biosimilars were present on the Indian market and after they launched, the first of which entered the market in 2014.

In the present analysis, the researchers gathered sales data from the Ipsos India Oncology Sales Audit from January 2014 to December 2020. The audit contained reports for Net Realized Value of all brands marketed by more than 60 oncology companies across India. The data were collected using open-source intelligence and telephone interviews with sales/marketing personnel from pharmaceutical companies and distributors. The number of patients treataed with trastuzumab was determined using body weight and whether they completed 6 months of therapy and received one vial of 440 mg/cycle of the drug.

About 68,000 patients with HER2-positive breast cancer received trastuzumab from 2014-2020, out of which 46,000 received biosimilars and 22,000 innovators. Only 18% of patients were treated with biosimilars in 2014, compared with 88% in 2020. There was a 17% decline in patients treated with the reference product between 2017 and 2018, and the number of patients treated with biosimilars grew by 229% during the same period.

In 2020, there was a 15% overall decline in trastuzumab administration (biosimilars, -13%; originator, -30%), which was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Biosimilars are preferred option amongst oncologists in India because of affordability and accessibility. The availability of quality biosimilars has the potential to reduce health care expenditure, and an effective supply also increase patient’s adherence to treatment,” the researchers wrote.

Reference

Ramanjinappa N, Upveja KH, Agarwal J. Shifting trends in the usage of trastuzumab with its biosimilar inception in India. Presented at: 2023 ASCO Annual Meeting; June 3-5, 2023; Chicago, IL. Abstract e13037. doi:10.1200/JCO.2023.41.16_suppl.e13037

This is an except of a story that originally appeared on the Center for Biosimilars.