Biosimilars in psoriasis: what should your positioning be?

Introduction: The introduction of biosimilars into our therapeutic arsenal has revolutionized the accessibility of biological treatments to patients with psoriasis, mainly from an economic standpoint. At this point, it is interesting to assess what their current positioning is.

Areas Covered: A bibliographic review has been carried out that includes the technical sheets of the different drugs, criteria for the use of biosimilars, the current situation of the main prescribing countries, and data on actual clinical practice in the period 2015-2020 using the Pubmed® and Embase databases. ®.Accessibility varies from country to country, regardless of the standards set by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or European Medicines Agency (EMA), owing to the need for biosimilars to be submitted for approval to local regulatory agencies. The switching/interchangeability/substitution criteria are not homogeneous, with variable outcomes ranging from clinical trials (for example, Norway) to mere non-binding recommendations.

Expert Opinion: The use of biosimilars is appropriate for a high percentage of patients. Its position as first-line drugs compared to traditional systemic drugs and the new anti-IL molecules must be reviewed since clinical choice cannot be based on economic aspects only.