HOW DISSIMILARLY SIMILAR ARE BIOSIMILARS?

Recently Biopharmaceuticals are the new chemotherapeutical agents that are called as “Biosimilars” or “follow on protein products” by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the American regulatory agencies (Food and Drug Administration) respectively. Biosimilars are extremely similar to the reference molecule but not identical, however close their similarities may be. A regulatory framework is therefore in place to assess the application for marketing authorisation of biosimilars. When a biosimilar is similar to the reference biopharmaceutical in terms of safety, quality, and efficacy, it can be registered. It is important to document data from clinical trials with a view of similar safety and efficacy. If the development time for a generic medicine is around 3 years, a biosimilar takes about 6-9 years. Generic medicines need to demonstrate bioequivalence only unlike biosimilars that need to conduct phase I and Phase III clinical trials. In this review, different biosimilars that are already being used successfully in the field on Oncology is discussed. Their similarity, differences and guidelines to be followed before a clinically informed decision to be taken, is discussed. More importantly the regulatory guidelines that are operational in India with a work flow of making a biosimilar with relevant dos and dont’s are discussed. For a large populous country like India, where with improved treatments in all sectors including oncology, our ageing population is increasing. For the health care of this sector, we need more newer, cheaper and effective biosimilars in the market. It becomes therefore important to understand the regulatory guidelines and steps to come up with more biosimilars for the existing population and also more information is mandatory for the practicing clinicians to translate these effectively into clinical practice.