FDA releases new video series to provide an overview of biosimilar and interchangeable products

FDA is announcing our new five-part video series, designed to provide an overview of biosimilar and interchangeable products and to highlight key concepts about the development and approval of these products, as well as how state-of-the-art technologies and tools are used to demonstrate biosimilarity. A biosimilar is a biological product that is highly similar to, and has no clinically meaningful differences from, an existing FDA-approved reference product. To date, the FDA has approved ten biosimilars, which may  help create more market competition and patient access to therapeutic biological products—many of these biosimilars treat serious and life-threatening illnesses.

The number of FDA-approved biosimilar products continues to grow. We want health care professionals, patients, and other stakeholders to understand what these products are and the rigorous standards that biosimilars must meet before the FDA can approve them.

The video series is part of a larger education and outreach effort about biosimilar and interchangeable products:

• The Promise – provides information about these new treatment options, greater access to life saving medications, and cost competition
• The Basics – introduces key terms and concepts about biosimilars, and discussed why patients and healthcare professionals should be confident in these products
• Interchangeability – describes interchangeable products and reviews the requirements that are needed to meet this standard
• The Development – delves into more about the abbreviated licensure pathway and the stepwise approach to demonstrating biosimilarity
• The Data – explains how analytics are used in the biosimilar development and approval process

Visit the biosimilar web page to see other materials such as fact sheets, shareable graphics, and other resources.  

The FDA will continue to play a prominent role in facilitating the efficient development and approval of high quality, safe and effective biosimilar and interchangeable products.  Greater availability of biosimilars can increase access to important treatments and competition in the marketplace of biological products, which in turn can help bring down the costs of these products to patients.