By Patrick Wingrove
NEW YORK (Reuters) – At least four drugmakers are expected to launch new copycat versions of AbbVie’s top-selling rheumatoid arthritis drug, Humira, over the next week, but experts expect little change in prices for the treatment even with the new competition.
Drugmakers Boehringer Ingelheim, Sandoz and Organon are expected to launch their biosimilars on Saturday, adding to U.S. competition for the drug that started when Amgen released its copy in January. Germany’s Fresenius plans to release its copycat version on Monday, according to the company.
Usually prices fall, often dramatically, when multiple generic versions of a widely used medication enter market.
But manufacturers of Humira biosimilars – the name for copies of biologic drugs – are likely to keep prices high to compete with one another for leverage with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which negotiate insurance coverage on behalf of their customers – large employers and health insurance plans, industry experts said.
PBMs have come under increasing scrutiny for taking some of their fees as a percentage of the discounts they negotiate for drugs that they cover, which some lawmakers have said can lead them to favor higher-priced medicines in their negotiations.
In all, at least nine copies of Humira, which also treats conditions like ulcerative colitis and psoriasis, from companies including Pfizer and South Korea’s Celltrion are expected to be available in the United States by the end of the year.
Most of the new biosimilars are expected to debut with marginal discounts to Humira’s monthly price of $6,922. Boehringer Ingelheim executive Stephen Pagnotta said the company’s Humira copy, Cyltezo, will be priced similarly to the branded product.
The two Humira biosimilar makers that spoke to Reuters would not comment on their pricing strategies.
Coherus BioSciences, a California-based drugmaker, is fighting AbbVie in court to launch its biosimilar in partnership with billionaire Mark Cuban at an 85% discount.
Robert Popovian, the chief science policy officer at patient advocacy group Global Healthy Living Foundation, said: “I don’t foresee anyone changing their pricing policy,” but added that PBMs might face political pressure to cover Coherus’ significantly discounted copy.
“Cuban has a big presence,” he said, “and it will be difficult for PBMs to explain why they are not covering the product that is 85% lower in price.”
Even if PBMs secure discounts for the health plans they represent on the high-priced Humira biosimilars, patients who pay co-insurance costs out of pocket will probably lose out, said Vanderbilt University Professor Stacie Dusetzina.
“The thing that is really upsetting is because patients often pay based on the list price for these higher-priced drugs, they wouldn’t get that price relief, even if the plans are getting the price relief,” she said.
Until recently, Humira was the world’s biggest-selling non-COVID prescription drug, hitting a record $21.2 billion in sales for 2022.
Humira cost the U.S. government more than $2.9 billion in 2021, according to data from the agency that runs the Medicare and Medicaid health programs. It is expected to be excluded from government drug price negotiations that start later this year because rival medicines are now on the market.
AbbVie has forecast a 37% drop in Humira sales in 2023 due to competition. Analysts predict that sales of Humira will fall to $14.1 billion this year, before dropping to $8.7 billion in 2024 and $6.1 billion the following year, according to Refinitiv data.
The market share each of the biosimilar makers capture will be determined in part by the deals they strike with PBMs like CVS Health Corp, Cigna Group’s Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth Group’s Optum RX, which together control 80% of the prescription drug market.
The Pharmaceutical Care Management Association, which represents these PBMs, declined to comment on the potential prices of the Humira copies. CVS said only drugmakers can set the prices for their drugs.
(Reporting by Patrick Wingrove in New York; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Matthew Lewis)
