Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Identified as Potentially Suitable for Biosimilar Infliximabin Europe

Assessing physician perception of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) they consider as Infliximab-biosimilar-suitable may provide insights into eventual biosimilar adoption in clinical practice settings in Europe. Medical charts of 1204 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from UK/France/Germany/Italy/Spain were ed, 425 were identified by physicians as biosimilar-infliximab-suitable, of these, 55 % were identified as candidates for being prescribing biosimilar-infliximab. For biosimilar-infliximab-suitable Yes/No groups, time since diagnosis 67.1/85.3mo, percentage with moderate/severe disease (per physician judgment) 46 %/40 %, ESR 23.4/21.2mm/h, CRP 12.6/8.1mg/dl, VAS (0-10scale) 3.7/3.4, Swollen Joint Count 2.6/1.9 and Tender Joint Count 4.4/3.1. RA patients considered infliximab-biosimilar not-suitable (per clinical judgment) had been in care for relatively longer period, had relatively lower disease severity and were less involved in treatment decisions. Physicians were also not readily prepared to prescribe the biosimilar to all infliximab-biosimilar-suitable RA patients. Drivers behind observed physician perception warrant scrutiny.