AMCP Biosimilars Operational Readiness Initiative

Biosimilars are gaining traction in the US marketplace after an initial slow start; however, there have been persistent and complex barriers to evaluation and adoption. AMCP members indicated that "operational readiness" tools are needed to help managed care organizations assess the readiness of biosimilar adoption.

AMCP convened a panel of experts via interviews and a workshop from the managed care, pharmacy benefit, and integrated delivery networks to identify their needs and define specific resources to aid in assessing and implementing biosimilars when formulary coverage is approved.  The following are outputs based on their recommendations.

1) Education

AMCP used feedback from the AMCP Biosimilars Operational Readiness Initiative interviews and workshop to identify education opportunities.

• Jan. 18–Feb. 6, 2023: The biosimilar education gaps identified in the interviews and workshop were added to the 2023 AMCP Annual Member Education Survey. The biosimilar educational gaps were confirmed with our AMCP membership.
• Feb. 28, 2023: Release of The Buzz around Biosimilars: AMCP’s Actions for 2023 as part of the AMCP Podcast Series — Listen Up!. This is an interview with Stanton Mehr (Director, Biosimilars Report & Review).
• March 21–24, 2023: A biosimilars educational track was added at the AMCP Annual 2023 conference leveraging feedback from the interviews and workshop.¹
• Oct. 16–19, 2023: Additional biosimilars sessions are being planned for the AMCP Nexus 2023 conference.¹

2) Employer Consultant Education

• "Biosimilars for Employer Consultants": A two-pager that provides an overview of the issue with respect to biosimilars and benefit design.
• AMCP will be presenting in a webinar in the NABIP Compliance Corner series entitled, “Biosimilars: What You Need to Know to be Your Clients’ Best Advocate” on Oct. 12, 2023, to employer consultants.

3) AMCP Biosimilars Best Practices Guide

Under development to be released in 2023.

The work of this advisory group is supported by Amgen, Organon, Sandoz, and Teva.