Regina Múzquiz, director general of the Spanish Biosimilar Medicines Association (BioSim), discusses the importance of biosimilars as a tool to alleviate costs to the healthcare system and save EUR two billion in three years. Additionally, she points out the recent legal proposals on public procurement and reference pricing system that the association has put forward and the challenge of convincing physicians that biosimilars constitute a great opportunity for both patients and healthcare system.
Can you tell us the rationale behind the creation of BioSim?
" Generics have a very clear reference price system and within the same scope the government included biosimilars. However, as mentioned above, we are very different in nature. Firstly, the costs of developing biosimilars can by no means be compared to that of generics; they need to be prescribed by brand, and they cannot be substituted by pharmacists. "
