Celltrion wants earlier access to biologics for rheumatoid arthritis patients

Celltrion Healthcare, maker of biosimilar infliximab, believes the NHS should reduce the disease severity score of 5.1 that a rheumatoid arthritis patient in the UK must have before they can get biologics treatment. In other EU countries the score is 3.2. Likewise 24% of patients in a typical EU country are treated with an anti-TNF-alpha, but only 15% in the UK.
Head of Celltrion strategy and operations, Mr HoUng Kim, said: “Patients diagnosed with less than severe disease activity should be able to get just as good and cost-effective benefit from biologics as patients with severely active disease, as this will help them achieve a better quality of life. With the proven savings, gained through the use of biosimilars, this could be a real opportunity for the NHS to address these concerning inequalities.”
Dr Ben Parker, consultant rheumatologist, Manchester University Hospitals, NHS Foundation Trust, said: “A UK patient’s burden of disease must be much more severe before they qualify for biologic therapy, compared to a French patient. As a treating physician, I strongly believe that this inequality needs to be addressed so that our patients can realise the same benefits of early treatment as their European neighbours.”
In the last financial year NHS England saved £324 million by using safe and effective generic medicines and biosimilars rather than more expensive medicines. Celltrion said: “Switching patients to biosimilars of these biologics led to significant cost savings: infliximab biosimilars delivered £99.4 million in savings, etanercept biosimilars delivered £60.3 million, and rituximab biosimilars delivered £50.4 million, for a cumulative savings of over £220 million in cancer and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases.”