Affiliations: [a]
Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, ESTESC-Coimbra Health School, Department of Pharmacy, Coimbra, Portugal
| [b] Biophysics Unit-IBILI, Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Portugal
| [c]
Polytechnic Institute of Coimbra, ESTESC-Coimbra Health School, Department of Biomedical Laboratory Sciences, Coimbra, Portugal
| [d]
Center of Investigation in Environment, Genetics and Oncobiology (CIMAGO), Faculty of Medicine of University of Coimbra, Portugal
Correspondence:
[*]
Address for correspondence: Rui Santos Cruz, Department of Pharmacy, ESTESC-Coimbra Health School, Rua 5 de Outubro, São Martinho do Bispo, 3046-854 Coimbra, Portugal. Tel.: +351239802430; Fax: +351239 812 245; E-mail: ruic@estescoimbra.pt.
Abstract: INTRODUCTION:By definition, biosimilars are similar to a biological reference that has already received marketing authorization for biologic drugs.The purpose of biosimilars is reducing costs, thus increasing access to this treatment, however, the concerns of health professionals and users refer to the fact that to reduce costs will not neglecting the quality, effectiveness and especially security. OBJECTIVE:The aim of this study is then to assess the degree of similarity between the biosimilar and its reference biopharmaceuticals, trying to understand the production process, requirements necessary for approval, and its impact on the quality, safety, efficacy and costs. METHODS:For the systematic review without meta-analysis, we researched articles to the b-on, Pubmed and Medscape to 2005–2014, and selected 23 articles that contributed to the verification of the objectives of this study. RESULTS:Several studies indicate that overall the biosimilar and biological reference showed no significant differences except those inherent to the production process, being the first susceptible to comparability tests demonstrating the similarity in terms of clinical efficacy and safety. CONCLUSION:Biosimilars will be increasingly present in the future as promising therapeutic arsenal and targeted therapy, however, issues related to immunogenicity, interchangeability, automatic substitution and extrapolation of indications should continue to be studied and debated.
