Infliximab biosimilars are safe, effective, and cheap, UK audit shows

Infliximab “biosimilars”—biological therapies engineered to work in the same way as the monoclonal antibody drug infliximab (marketed as Remicade)—are safe and effective and could halve the cost of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment, a report by the Royal College of Physicians has found.1

Use of these drugs could cut the cost of an annual course of treatment from around £10 000 (€11 700: $13 000) to around £5000, the authors said.

Given their reduced cost, clinicians should use biosimilars as first line treatment for appropriate patients with active IBD and should consider switching those currently being treated with Remicade, said the report.

Only a fifth of patients were receiving infliximab biosimilars (Inflectra and Remsima), the audit found, prompting the authors to …