What to know about P.E.I.’s biosimilar switching program

P.E.I. will begin switching people on biologics who are covered through its provincial pharmacare to biosimilar drugs. The medications affected include those used to treat diabetes, Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis. Patients affected by the switching program must switch by June 30, 2024. The province is the eleventh Canadian jurisdiction to implement a switching program; only Manitoba and Nunavut don’t have one. Switching patients to biosimilars will save money, the government says, as biologic drugs make up some of P.E.I. pharmacare’s most significant expenditures, and their costs are rising at a rate the government describes as unsustainable. Biosimilars cost up to 40% less than their originator drugs. Read: Smoothing the transition to biosimilar insulins “This switch will allow P.E.I. to optimize the use of public resources, invest more in new and innovative therapies and continue to grow the list of publicly funded medications while improving access and affordability for all Islanders,” Kilby Rinco, Health PEI director of Provincial Pharmacy Services, said in a press release. As part of this, pharmacists can conduct therapeutic substitutions for biosimilar insulins. A table with originator drugs and biosimilars is available from HealthPEI. The government will not consider special authorization renewal requests for originator biologics during the transition period. Patients switching to a biosimilar do not need new special authorization requests unless the patient’s current special authorization is expiring. (Insulin aspart, insulin lispro, and insulin glargine do not require special authorization requests.) Read: Biosimilars are equivalent to reference biologics in rheumatoid arthritis Pregnant patients are an exception; P.E.I. doesn’t require them to switch until after delivery. Another is patients using insulin pumps that haven’t been proven compatible with the biosimilar version of their insulin. Providers for those patients need to fill out a switching exemption form for them. Biosimilars are effective and safe, the P.E.I. government said. “Biosimilars undergo the same rigorous approval, and biosimilars are proven to be highly similar in terms of safety and effectiveness,” said Health and Wellness Minister Mark McLane. “Patients will continue receiving the same high-quality treatment, while the government will be able to fund more new drug therapies, bring innovation to the PEI healthcare system and continue its work to deliver improved patient care.” Read: University of Toronto launches two new courses on biosimilars However, some patients are worried about changing their medications. Crohn’s and Colitis Canada has raised concerns about the new policy. Patrick Tohill, the advocacy and government affairs director with Crohn’s and Colitis Canada, told CBC News that they were worried about high-risk patients who have struggled to find medications that worked for them being forced to change to biosimilars. “We would hope that we could create some exemptions for the small number of patients who might have the worst impacts—negative impacts—as a result of the switch,” he said. Rinco said they appreciated that the change is anxiety-inducing for patients and can feel challenging, though she says it’s safe for patients. “We have all of the safety data; we know that the switch has not affected or impacted most patients when they do switch,” she told CBC News. Read: Ontario’s insulin biosimilar change and how to get through it easily

What to know about P.E.I.’s biosimilar switching program

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