Gedeon Richter’s osteoporosis biosimilar will be available on NHS
Gedeon Richter has announced that their biosimilar for osteoporosis, Teriparatide, is to be made available on the NHS for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and in men at increased risk of fracture.
As a result, the NHS can now provide an additional option for the treatment of osteoporosis in this subset of patients. The Teriparatide biosimilar is also indicated in men and women at increased risk of fracture whose osteoporosis is associated with sustained systemic glucocorticoid therapy.
The treatment has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of both vertebral and non-vertebral fractures, but not hip fractures, in postmenopausal women.
In clinical studies, teriparatide biosimilar has been shown to be therapeutically equivalent to its reference drug Forsteo.
Dr Kathrine Scott, Medical Director at Gedeon Richter UK, commented: “The availability of teriparatide biosimilar offers an alternative treatment option to eligible patients with an increased risk of fractures. NHS England supports the appropriate use of the best value biological medicine which will drive greater competition to release cost efficiencies to support the treatment of an increasing number of patients with biological medicines and the uptake of new and innovative medicines. We are pleased that practitioners now have the option of prescribing this.”
“The availability of teriparatide biosimilar is positive for both the NHS and patients,” said Tamás Neubauer, Managing Director at Gedeon Richter. “We are looking forward to the treatment being rolled out across the UK and are confident of the impact teriparatide biosimilar will have.”
Source: Pharmafield