FDA Publishes Three New Biosimilars Resources for Healthcare Providers
To raise awareness and better educate patients and providers about biosimilars’ potential in clinical care, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) added (https://www.fda.gov/drugs/biosimilars/health-care-provider-materials#fact) three new fact sheets to its healthcare provider resources in July 2022.
FDA published the following new fact sheets:
- Overview of Biosimilar Products (https://www.fda.gov/media/151058/download)
- Biosimilar Regulatory Review and Approval (https://www.fda.gov/media/151061/download)
- Interchangeable Biological Products (https://www.fda.gov/media/151094/download)
“Biosimilars are safe and effective for treating many illnesses, including cancer,” FDA said (https://www.fda.gov/media/151058/download). “These medications can provide more treatment options and potentially reduce costs for patients.”
Biosimilars’ progress can be traced (https://www.fda.gov/drugs/therapeutic-biologics-applications-bla/biosimilars) back to the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act of 2009, which created a pathway for biosimilars’ approval as a biological product. The act increased (https://www.fda.gov/drugs/therapeutic-biologics-applications-bla/biosimilars) healthcare providers’ access to more treatment options, which may lower patients’ cost for their cancer medications.
As new treatments and medications are approved, oncology nurses must stay up to date on the products (https://www.ons.org/make-difference/ons-center-advocacy-and-health-policy/position-statements/oncology-nursing-specialty) available for patients with cancer. Learn more about the nursing considerations for cancer-related biosimilars in the ONS Biosimilars Learning Library (https://www.ons.org/learning-libraries/biosimilars).