Likely prescribing intentions for Celltrion/Hospira's infliximab biosimilar; new study

The majority of surveyed gastroenterologists do not expect to prescribe an infliximab biosimilar, such as South Korean firm Celltrion's Remsima, in their Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) patients that has not been clinically tested in inflammatory bowl diseases, according to a new report from BioTrends Research, a unit of health care advisory firm Decision Resources. Infliximab is the active ingredient of Merck & Co and Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade.

The Biosimilars Advisory Service report entitled Physician Perspectives on Pegylated IFN- a and TNF- a Inhibitors in Immune and Infectious Disease provides analysis of survey results from over 90 gastroenterologists, as well as more than 90 rheumatologists in the USA and Europe. The report finds that over 70% of surveyed gastroenterologists would not use biosimilar infliximab in CD or UC patients if the clinical trial had only been conducted in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Only a minority of survey respondents believe that indication extrapolation is an overall good idea.

Rheumatologists also cautious