Toronto – May 7, 2024 – Biosimilars Canada is pleased to announce the unanimous re-election of Mr. Mike Woolcock, Senior Vice President of Biosimilars and Specialty Products with Apotex, as Chair of the Biosimilars Canada Board.
Mr. Mike Casia, President and Managing Director of Organon Canada, has been unanimously re-elected as Vice-Chair of the Biosimilars Canada Board.
Biosimilar medicines have become a major segment of Canada’s pharmaceutical market in recent years. Biosimilar drug sales reached $1.79 billion in Canada in 2023, an increase of 29.2% over the previous year. More than 2.46 million retail prescriptions were filled with biosimilar biologic drugs in Canada in 2023, which represents 10.3% of all biologic drug prescriptions.1
Much of this growth has been driven through the implementation of biosimilar “switching” or transition policies by public drug plans, which require patients to transition from an originator biologic drug to a corresponding biosimilar under the supervision of their treating clinician in order to maintain coverage. Eleven public drug programs in Canada – including Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta – have adopted such policies to date.
In 2023, biologic drugs accounted for 36.4% of the total cost to private drug plans and represented 3.9% of claims.2 Despite the steady growth in the use of biosimilars in Canada, the use of biosimilars by private drug plans continues to lag behind the utilization of public drug plans.
“Biosimilars provide a unique opportunity for companies to control rising drug costs for their employer-sponsored benefits plans,” said Mr. Woolcock. “Biosimilars are significantly more affordable than originator biologics, and can generate substantial savings. Those savings can then be used to increase coverage for other high-demand health benefits such as vision care and counselling services.”
“Biosimilars Canada encourages companies to review their drug coverage to ensure they are maximizing the use of cost-saving biosimilar treatments through the adoption of biosimilar switching policies,” Woolcock added.
Mike Woolcock has been a member of Apotex for more than 10 years. Mr. Woolcock has more than 30 years of experience in managing the commercialization of pharmaceutical and biotech products. He has worked in small and large pharmaceutical companies as well as start-up and large biotechnology companies. Prior to joining Apotex, Mr. Woolcock held sales, marketing and R&D positions with Procter & Gamble and biotech companies Cortech and Amgen. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Genetics from La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia.
Mike Casia was appointed President and Managing Director to launch the Canadian operations of Organon in June 2021. Prior to his appointment, Mr. Casia played a key role in Organon’s creation, working as Chief of Staff to Organon’s CEO during the development of the business case, strategy, and the stand-up of the organization. He has spent 15 of his 21 years within the pharmaceutical industry working directly in the biologics/biosimilars space in Canada, Europe and internationally, and has held country, regional and global roles in the United States, Belgium, Finland, Switzerland, France and Canada. Mr. Casia holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from McGill University.
About Biosimilars Canada
Biosimilars Canada is a national association representing the biosimilar medicines industry in Canada. Our member companies are at the forefront of the global development and marketing of biosimilar medicines. Biosimilars Canada provides leadership in educating Canadian stakeholders about the safety and efficacy of biosimilar medicines, and advocates for policies that support their timely approval, reimbursement, market acceptance and expanded use. Biosimilars Canada is a division of the Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association. Visit us at www.biosimilarscanada.ca.
About Biosimilar Medicines
A biosimilar biologic drug, or biosimilar, is a drug demonstrated to be highly similar to a biologic drug that was already authorized for sale. Health Canada evaluates all the information provided to confirm that the biosimilar and the reference biologic drug are similar and that there are no clinically meaningful differences in safety and efficacy between them. Health Canada’s rigorous standards for authorization mean that you can have the same confidence in the quality, safety and efficacy of a biosimilar as any other biologic drug. Additional information about biosimilar medicines can be found in Health Canada’s fact sheet Biosimilar biologic drugs in Canada.
Contact
Jeff Connell
Vice President, Corporate Affairs
Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA)
Mobile: (647) 274-3379
Email: jeff@canadiangenerics.ca
1 IQVIA Pharmastat, 12 months ending December 2023
2 Ibid.