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Assessment of Pharmacists' Views on Biosimilar Naming Conventions
Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy (03/01/15) Vol. 21, No. 3, P. 188; Fernandez-Lopez, Sara; Kazzaz, Denise; Bashir, Mohamed
An online survey of 93 U.S. pharmacists suggests that the naming convention for biosimilars may influence dispensing pharmacists. The majority of respondents reported a high familiarity level with biosimilars. When given three scenarios for naming conventions of interchangeable biosimilars and asked to rate their level of confidence in substituting, 75 percent said they were most comfortable with the idea of biosimilars having the same nonproprietary name as the reference biologic. Only about 25 percent said they were confident in substituting when the nonproprietary name is not shared with the biologic. In addition, about 37 percent were confident in substituting when the biologic and biosimilar product did not share the same nonproprietary name because of a prefix or suffix. When asked whether physician postdispensing notification requirements would affect their willingness to dispense an interchangeable biosimilar, just over half of the respondents said it would have no effect. while 19 percent said it would make them less likely to substitute. Survey respondents included members of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, the American Pharmacists Association, and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.
Abstract News © 2015 INFORMATION, INC.
