Cost savings from anemia management with biosimilar epoetin alfa and increased access to targeted antineoplastic treatment: a simulation for the EU G5 countries.

Objective: We simulated the budget impact of biosimilar erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) in EU G5 countries.

Methods: Three models were built to estimate the number of patients who could be provided with antineoplastic therapy with rituximab, bevacizumab or trastuzumab from cost savings of biosimilar erythropoietin use in a hypothetical panel of 100,000 patients. The associated number of patients needed to convert to biosimilar ESA to provide such treatments was also calculated.

Results: Under fixed dosing, the savings from 100% conversion were €110,592,159, translating into an additional 9770 rituximab, 3912 bevacizumab, or 3713 trastuzumab treatments. Under weight-based dosing, the savings from 100% conversion were €146,170,333, corresponding to an additional 12,913 rituximab, 5171 bevacizumab or 4908 trastuzumab treatments. The number of patients needed to convert ranged from four to 51.

Conclusions: Using biosimilar ESA for supportive cancer care yields significant savings and increases accessibility to primary antineoplastic therapy in a budget neutral way.