Abstract

Impact of a clinical pharmacist in a multidisciplinary consultation on the switch to a biosimilar for inflammatory rheumatic diseases

Author(s): Xian Chao Wang

Despite several studies proving the efficacy and safety of biosimilars compared with original drugs, switching to a biosimilar remains challenging when the decision is at the discretion of physicians with mandatory consent from patients. Educating patients about biosimilars seems important to increase the prescription rate of biosimilars. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of a clinical pharmacist consultation on the switch to and retention rate of a biosimilar for patients with inflammatory rheumatic diseases. This study highlights the positive impact of a pharmacist consultation before the physician's one on switching to a biosimilar, but more studies are needed to assess the impact of this pharmacist consultation on preventing the nocebo effect and therefore on improving the retention rate of biosimilars.