The effectiveness of switching from an originator biological agent to its biosimilar, or vice versa, for ankylosing spondylitis in real clinical practice

Abstract

If standard therapy with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is ineffective, biological drugs are usually prescribed for patients with active ankylosing spondylitis. These medicines are purchased in Russia not under their trade names, but under their international non-proprietary ones. This leads to the fact that either originator drugs or their biosimilars are purchased from time to time. For this reason, without a patient' and his/her attending physician's knowledge, the originator drug is switched to its biosimilar, or vice versa. The paper describes two cases of multiple switches from an originator drug to its biosimilars, or vice versa, which are not clinically indicated. The results of analyzing these cases confirm the opinion that biosimilars may have a significantly different clinical efficacy from their originator drugs.

Keywords

• ankylosing spondylitis
• tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitors
• biological agents
• biosimilars