AAM’s Access! 2024 took place earlier this week in Tampa, Florida, bringing together industry leaders and decision-makers to explore the business, breakthroughs and politics that shape the future of generics and biosimilars. During the annual meeting, panelists tackled the core question facing the industry: How can we chart a sustainable path for generics and biosimilars?
Here are some important insights shared by speakers during the event:
1. The financial challenges facing the generics industry have forced manufacturers to reconsider making older drugs. Market withdraws are frequent — more than one generic drug has gone off the market every other day for the last decade.
Insights shared by David Gaugh, interim president and CEO, AAM
2. Since their introduction in the U.S. in 2015, biosimilars have been used in over 694 million patient days of therapy, providing an additional 344 million treatment days that would not have been available without biosimilar competition.
Insights shared by Keren Haruvi, AAM board chair, and president, Sandoz North America
3. 46% of reported drug shortages in 2022 were caused by quality issues or manufacturing delays. Looking at shortages over the past few years, the average time it took to resolve a shortage was 20 months.
Insights shared by Jacqueline Corrigan-Curay, principal deputy center director, CDER
4. Although biosimilars are delivering on their promise of lower prices, adoption has been slower than anticipated. While the introduction of biosimilar competition in 2023 for the world’s best-selling drug, AbbVie’s Humira, should have been a watershed moment for biosimilars, adalimumab biosims have captured less than 2% of the market share. This is far below the average biosim adoption rate — 20% — at one year.
Insights shared by Joe Alexander, chief strategy officer, Capital Rx
5. In 2018, it took total sales from 8 brand drugs to equal the total generics business; in 2023 it only takes sales from two drugs — AbbVie's Humira and Novo Nordisk's Ozempic.
Insights shared by Doug Long, vice president, Industry Relations, IQVIA
