Dr. Tripathy on the Progression of Biosimilars in Oncology

Debu Tripathy, MD, professor and chairman, Department of Breast Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the progression of biosimilars in oncology.

The FDA and the European Medical Agency have developed a relatively good set of guidelines that are needed in order for biosimilars to be approved, says Tripathy. However, the system is not perfect. By and large, Tripathy says that it is a reasonably good system that physicians should be cognizant of.

Patients and physicians alike are naturally more protective of the situation, which is where a lot of the hesitance comes from, explains Tripathy. Some of the third-party payers are beginning to mandate the use of biosimilars. Additionally, some of the hospitals that are buying biosimilars at a discounted price will preferentially put them on the formulary, states Tripathy. It is unlikely that the future of oncology does not include biosimilars, concludes Tripathy.