Health spending on biosimilar medicines reached a milestone in the Spanish Health System, exceeding 1.000 billion euros last year. This represents a significant increase compared to previous years, with 7.4% more than the previous year (1.020 million) and an impressive increase of 47.4% relative to 2020, when spending was 743.3 million.
This growth is attributed to the expiration of patents on various molecules, which allowed new biosimilars to enter the market. Biosim, the Spanish Association of Biosimilars, states that this increase is due to the fact that the patent of several molecules has expired and, therefore, new biosimilars have entered the market. In fact, biological generics aimed at immune-mediated diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn's disease, etc.) accounted for more than half of the outlay, specifically 586 million euros. In addition, 264 million were spent on this type of cancer treatments.
The use of biosimilars in hospitals has experienced a notable increase, with 73% of drugs distributed in 2022 being biosimilars. This figure is eight percentage points higher than the previous year and 12 points higher than in 2020. In terms of active ingredients, oncology filgrastim leads penetration with a staggering 96%. This is followed by infliximab and pegfilgrastim, both with 90%.
In pharmacies, 21% of the medications - whose active ingredient has biological generics - that were dispensed in street-level pharmacies - were biosimilars. Specifically, 3% more than in the previous period and 8% more than in 2020. This includes products such as enoxaparin, an anticoagulant, which was especially highlighted with more than half of the packaging being biosimilar.
In addition to the increase in spending on biosimilars, these medicines have generated significant savings, estimated at 1.000 billion euros. Biosimilars are generally priced lower than brand-name drugs, and additional discounts on hospital purchases have contributed to greater savings.
Spending on biosimilars is expected to continue to increase in the future, especially if new biosimilars enter the market. The expansion of these drugs has been observed mainly in acute and oncological treatments, although penetration in chronic diseases may require more time. The introduction of biosimilars of eculizumab and other treatments indicates that this trend is far from abating, and more molecules are expected to go off patent in the future, increasing the availability and use of biosimilars in the Spanish healthcare system.