The Knowledge, Opinions, Attitudes of Physicians About Biosimilar Drugs: A University Hospital Data (original) (raw)
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BioDrugs
Introduction There has been a significant increase in the volume of biosimilar medicines recently due to the expiries of patent protections of biologic medicines. Biosimilars are considered new medicines, and their usage in therapy is often associated with uncertainty from the perspectives of physicians, pharmacists and patients. Objectives The purpose of this study was to identify hospital pharmacist opinions towards these new medicines and investigate their usage in practice. Methods A paper-based, self-administered questionnaire was distributed to Polish hospital pharmacists. Results Biosimilars were used in 77% of surveyed hospitals, whereas originator biologics were utilised within 90% of settings. The former medicines were found to consist of less than one-third of the entire course of biological pharmacotherapy used within Polish hospitals. A total of 88% of hospital pharmacists were concerned that the new drugs were not identical with the biologic versions, 48% with their immunogenicity and 44% with other pharmacokinetic properties. The majority of respondents (87%) stated that the most important advantage of biosimilars related to decreased costs. Furthermore, according to participants, pharmacist-led substitution is not appropriate. Conclusion Due to the numerous concerns relating to the usage of biosimilars, their introduction into patient therapy requires special attention from healthcare providers. While pharmacists involved in the distribution of biosimilars are conscious of their impact in decreasing costs of therapy, they do not feel comfortable in recommending their substitution without a physician's permission. There is a need for more precise legal regulations relating to biosimilars, improved communication between physicians and pharmacists, as well as educational initiatives to improve the safe and effective usage of biosimilars.
International Journal of General Medicine, 2020
Background: Pharmacists being the drug experts need to be well aware of the applied handling of biosimilar medicines (BSMs). They are an integral educator, trailblazer, and advocate of biosimilar integration across all clinical settings. Therefore, the current study was conducted to assess the pharmacists' knowledge, attitude, and practices of integrating BSMs into clinical practice. Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted from August 2019 to November 2019. The community pharmacies, clinical and academic settings in Karachi were approached for gathering the responses of pharmacists towards BSMs and interchangeable products using a 30-item survey form. Pearson correlation and independent sample t-test were used to identify the relationship among independent variables and the responses, considering p values <0.05 as statistically significant. Results: Overall, there were 305 survey forms used with a response rate of 87.14%. More than 80% of the respondents have good knowledge about the definition, characteristics, safety and efficacy, compatibility, cost issues, and utilization of BSMs. Around half of the respondents (48.9%, [95% CI 46.6-51.2]) were confident in using BSMs in clinical practice. However, they were concerned about the BSM's safety profile (45.2%, [95% CI 42.1-48.3]), quality (30.2%, [95% CI 28.3-32.1]), and efficacy issues (32.3%, [95% CI 31.2-37.5]). Conclusion: The findings revealed that pharmacists were well informed about the BSMs. However, some of the responses to the attitude demonstrated a lack of understanding of the application of that knowledge. The respondents persuaded that advanced patterns of diseases, product marketing stipulations, and need for better patient care drives higher demand for developing BSMs and were enthusiastic about gaining more insight to integrate BSMs into routine clinical practice.
Knowledge and Attitude of Pharmacists about Biosimilar Medications in Saudi Arabia
International Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
Objectives: This study determined knowledge and attitude of pharmacists about biosimilar mdications in Saudi Arabia. Methods: Pharmacists from different areas and regions were approached to participate in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected by a pre-validated and selfadministered research tool using a convenience sampling technique. Analyses and interpretation of the data were done using descriptive and inferential statistics with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24.0. Results: A total of 319 pharmacists from different specialties participated in the study. A total of 111 pharmacists were males, and 208 were females. All of the pharmacists had varied expertise. Around 41.4% of the studied pharmacists were practicing in the community, 34.5% in hospitals and 24.1% were in other areas. Conclusion: This study reported the current level of pharmacists' knowledge and attitude about biosimilar medications in Saudi Arabia. Statistically, a significant association was observed between male and female pharmacists regarding the introduction of biosimilar medications in the Saudi Arabian healthcare setup.
Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy
Background: Although there is increasing support for biosimilar medicines by the Iraqi Ministry of Health (MOH), there is scarce information about whether physicians accept these medicines and support movement toward replacing reference medicines with their biosimilar counterparts. Objectives: The study objectives were to 1) explore in-depth the perceptions of Iraqi physicians working in public hospitals about the difference in effectiveness and safety between biosimilar medicines and their reference biological counterparts, 2) evaluate physicians' barriers to prescribing biosimilar medicines, 3) assess the adherence of physicians to the new pharmacovigilance regulations on reporting biopharmaceutical adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and 4) identify any barriers facing physicians to reporting biopharmaceutical-ADRs. Methods: This qualitative study included face-to-face and virtual semi-structured interviews involving physicians from different disciplines who had experience with biological or biosimilar medicines. The interviews were conducted between November 6, 2020, and February 7, 2021. Thematic analyses were used to analyze qualitative data generated from the interviews. Results: The study sample included 36 physicians (6 women and 30 men) from seven different specialties at ten governmental hospitals mainly in Baghdad, and one physician was from Mosul, Iraq. Because most physicians had insufficient experience with biosimilar medications and were not sure about their effectiveness, the majority were hesitant to prescribe them. Most physicians preferred to prescribe reference biological medicines initially. However, the initial prescribing and switching between a reference and counterpart biosimilar relies on its availability. They chose biosimilar medications that have been approved by the U.S. FDA or EMA. Most physicians were unaware about the new pharmacovigilance regulations to report adverse biopharmaceutical reactions. The physicians tended to underreport biopharmaceutical ADRs and believed that inadequate physician-pharmacist collaboration negatively impacts preventing and reporting ADRs. Conclusions: Medicine procurement in healthcare settings should focus on sustainably securing high-quality biopharmaceuticals rather than looking only at costs to enhance physician experience and patient clinical outcomes. Promoting documentation, monitoring, and physician-pharmacist collaboration is pivotal to prevent, monitor, and treat biopharmaceutical ADRs. are approved by regulatory authorities (such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA) based on a full robust criteria of safety and efficacy data. 2 After the patents of reference biological medicines have expired, biosimilars (similar biological medicines) can be marketed. 1,2 A biosimilar is a biologic treatment that is highly similar to an authorized reference product in terms of quality, safety, and efficacy, 1,3 but biological medicines Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy 7 (2022) 100162
Awareness and Knowledge of Pharmacists toward Biosimilar Medicines: A Survey in Jordan
International Journal of Clinical Practice
Aims. Pharmacists in all clinical settings are recognized drug experts and integral educators of biosimilar medicines. Therefore, the objective of this study was to assess pharmacists’ knowledge, predictors of knowledge, and views toward biosimilar medicines in Jordan. Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Jordan during October–December 2020. An Internet-based self-administrated questionnaire on knowledge and views was distributed using social media groups to the pharmacists among different areas in Jordan. A descriptive and univariate analysis was performed. Binary logistic regression was conducted to determine the predictors of knowledge including all variables with p < 0.20 on univariate analysis. Results. A total 536 responses were received, 502 of which were completed (93.7% response rate). A total of 52.6% of the pharmacists were knowledgeable about biosimilar medicines and the mean of knowledge level was 6.47 ± 1.62 (range 2–10). Multivariate analysis identifie...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Introduction: The increasing availability of biosimilars can increase patient access to these drugs and reduce the economic burden. Nurses play a key role in the education, administration, pharmacovigilance and management of the side effects of biosimilars. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and attitudes of nurses towards biosimilar drugs in different countries. Methods: An international cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2021 to February 2022. The survey was carried out using Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI), sent by the CAWI panel via the website. Results: The results showed that nurses with a greater level of education felt most knowledgeable about biosimilars (χ2 = 105.813, df = 2, p < 0.001). One-third of nurses with a doctorate and a second degree said biosimilars are used in their workplace (χ2 = 48.169, df = 4, p < 0.001); most nurses with a second degree said that they had never heard of biosimilars (41%). Doctorate-level nurses th...
National Journal of Physiology, Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 2017
Background: Generic prescribing is still a contentious issue among prescribers, and the issues of bioequivalence, quality, and safety remain problem areas. Generic substitution of brand medicines is an accepted practice in many parts of the world, and this is often done for economic reasons. Aims and Objective: The aim and objective of this study was to assess the attitude of clinicians and postgraduate students regarding generic drugs and branded drugs. Materials and Methods: The present study was a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study conducted among clinicians and postgraduate students at NRIMC and SMC, Vijayawada. Assurance of confidentiality (informed consent) was also taken from the participants. After approval and clearance from the Institutional Ethics Committee, 75 participants were included into the study by the investigator. After explaining about the nature and purpose of the study, the study participants were interviewed using structured questionnaire to assess the awareness about the generic drugs and to determine the attitude and practice toward generic drugs. The appropriate instructions about filling questionnaire were given. Analysis was performed and the data were expressed in n (%). Results: In the present study, 87.7% of the clinicians and postgraduates were aware of generic drugs. Most doctors believed that generics are therapeutically (59.6%) and safety wise (71.9%) equivalent to branded drugs, 89.5% are of the opinion that generics are cheaper than branded ones. Nearly 59.6% of them were aware of Jan Aushadhi pharmacy. Conclusion: A very good percentage of doctors were aware of generic medicines, their attitude toward safety, efficacy, and cost-effectiveness of generic medicines was good and majority of them said that they prescribe generic drugs. However, there was a meaningful proportion who expressed their concern about the quality and efficacy of generic drugs. These beliefs could hinder larger generic drug use and increase health-care expenses of patients with chronic illness. Proper awareness in physicians about the generic prescription practice may improve the patient compliance by reducing the economic burden to the patients.
Medical specialists' attitudes to prescribing biosimilars
Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety, 2017
Biosimilars are a cost-effective alternative to biologics that could improve patients' access to expensive biological medicines. Currently, there are little data on doctors' perceptions of biosimilars and in what situations they are comfortable prescribing biosimilars. In this study, we investigated medical specialists' perceptions of biosimilars and the factors associated with the acceptance of biosimilars. A national sample of 110 of 327 medical specialists working in the areas of rheumatology, dermatology, gastroenterology, oncology and haematology completed an online questionnaire examining attitudes towards prescribing biosimilars, indication extrapolation and switching patients to a biosimilar. Most specialists held positive views of biosimilars, with between 54 and 74% confident in the safety, efficacy, manufacturing and pharmacovigilance of biosimilars. Seventy-one percent of specialists agreed that they would prescribe biosimilars for all or some conditions meet...
A range of factors are believed to exert a negative influence on opinions of physicians about generic drugs. The aim of this study was to survey the opinions of primary care doctors on generics, and determine the factors which may affect them. A questionnaire comprising thirty eight questions was distributed among primary care doctors working in seventy out-patient clinics of the Lodzkie province, Poland, during the period of A total of 170 of 183 participants completed the survey (average age 48.5; 70.0% women): a 92.9% response rate. While 38.8% of physicians claimed that generics were worse than brand name drugs, 54.1% considered them to be better. However, 36.5% of the doctors did not choose generics for their own use. Two key opinions were identified among the responses concerning the effectiveness of generic drugs: use of generic drugs by the physician (p<0.001), and their opinion that pharmacists do inform patients about generic drugs (p<0.05). Although existing evidence confirms that generic and brand name drugs are equally effective, many physicians doubt this, which prevents them from being used as cost effective drug therapy. In order to increase healthcare savings through the use of generics, these factors should be addressed: for example, convincing a physician to adopt generics for personal use may be an efficient way to support more cost effective treatment of his patients.