Hyderabad: Affordable biosimilars or biologics are required for the treatment of cancer and it is very important for these drugs to be in the National List of Essential Medicines. The recent biosimilar Trastuzumab, whose brand name is Herceptin, is used to treat breast cancer. The company has recorded '286 crore of sales in 2017 in India alone.
Despite such a high volume it has been found that only 10 per cent penetration of clinical need has been achieved for the drug. This is because the cost of the drug is Rs 56,000 per vial of 440 mg which is not affordable for 90 per cent of the patients.
According to pharmacist Dr Sai Kumar Katam, “There are more than 70 biosimilars which have been approved in the country presently. Since 2016, the rigorous approval methods have been relaxed and there is entry of more aproducts in the market. But affordability is still a key issue and that has to be looked into.”
Price control of medicines for oncology has to be looked into as the approved methods have to be made available to the people. With public health programmes like Aarogyasri and other government health schemes the medicines can be made available in these programs so that people can benefit from the latest research.
Dr Sai Ram, a senior oncologist at MNJ Cancer Hospital said, “Presently, these high cost medicines are being prescribed to patients who can afford to buy the medicine. Hence, the affordability has replaced the medical need of the medicine. When we have biologics it must be available for the medical need of the patient.”
