THE Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee says it does not have "any concerns about encouraging prescribing of a biosimilar brand rather than the reference biological agent brand".
According to the outcomes from the Aug 2017 PBAC meeting, the committee was asked to review a request for a change to the PBS Schedule and prescribing software to give preference to a biosimilar brand of etanercept for patients who hadn't been previously treated with the medication.
The PBAC noted that while such a move was a matter for the government, it was happy to encourage prescribing of the biosimilar brand, including through notes in the Schedule and changes to prescribing software.
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