Skip to content

Manitoba Announces Transition to Cost-Saving Biosimilar Medicines

All Ten Canadian Provinces Have Now Made the Switch to Biosimilars

Toronto – August 6, 2024 – Biosimilars Canada, a national association representing Canada’s biosimilar medicines industry, welcomes the announcement by the Government of Manitoba that it has implemented a “switching” or transitioning policy to expand the use of cost-saving biosimilar biologic medicines.

“Biosimilars Canada and its member companies congratulate Deputy Premier and Health Minister Uzoma Asagwara and the Government of Manitoba for implementing a biosimilars switching policy to provide patients with access to the high-quality treatments and support services they need while also generating significant ongoing savings for Manitoba’s healthcare system,” said Jim Keon, President of Biosimilars Canada.

Patients covered by the Manitoba Pharmacare Program who use certain biologic drugs to treat such diseases as arthritis, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis will have six months – between August 1, 2024 and January 31, 2025 – to switch to a biosimilar version of the medicine under the supervision of their treating physician.

With Manitoba’s announcement, all ten Canadian provinces have now adopted biosimilar transition initiatives. The Manitoba implementation follows British Columbia (May 2019), Alberta (December 2019), New Brunswick (April 2021), Quebec (July 2021), Nova Scotia (February 2022), Saskatchewan (October 2022), Ontario (December 2022), Newfoundland and Labrador (March 2023), and PEI (October 2023). Two Canadian territories have also adopted biosimilar transition initiatives: the Northwest Territories (December 2021) and Yukon Territory (April 2023). Some federal government and private sector drug benefit plans have also implemented switching policies.

Switching from an originator biologic drug to a biosimilar is a safe and effective practice. Health Canada confirms that “patients and health care providers can have confidence that biosimilars are effective and safe for each of their authorized indications, and that no differences are expected in efficacy and safety following a change in routine use between a biosimilar and its reference biologic drug in an authorized indication.”1

Biologic medicines have revolutionized the treatment of many disabling and life-threatening diseases. They can, however, cost $10,000 to $25,000 or more to treat a patient for a year, which is placing an enormous financial strain on drug budgets.

The full benefits of biosimilars cannot be realized unless drug plans adopt policies that support their expanded use with the implementation of successful biosimilar transitioning or “switching” policy. Under these policies patients who use a biologic drug to treat a chronic condition are transitioned or “switched” from an original biologic drug to a biosimilar biologic drug under the supervision of their treating physician.

For example, the BC Government reported in June 2024 that its biosimilar transition policy had saved BC PharmaCare more than $732 million over five years, which has enabled the province to provide coverage of more medicines for BC patients. The BC government report confirmed that its monitoring of safety and efficacy shows that “people who switched from a reference biologic to a biosimilar had the same health outcomes as those who were on reference biologics in the past.

There is extensive real-world experience with biosimilars. According to market data from IQVIA, 2.69 million retail prescriptions are filled with biosimilars annually in Canada. Biosimilars are also used extensively in hospitals and oncology programs. There have also been more than 178 clinical trials worldwide involving approximately 21,000 switched patients, which confirm that switching from an originator biologic drug to a biosimilar biologic drug is not associated with any major efficacy, safety, or immunogenicity issues.2
 

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
3
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.

Contact:
Jeff Connell
Vice President, Corporate Affairs
Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA)
Mobile: (647) 274-3379  |  Email: jeff@canadiangenerics.ca


1 Health Canada, Biosimilar biologic drugs in Canada: Fact Sheet.
2 Barbier, L. et. al. The Efficacy, Safety, and Immunogenicity of Switching Between Reference Biopharmaceuticals and Biosimilars: A Systematic Review, March 31, 2020.
3 Health Canada, Biosimilar biologic drugs in Canada: Fact Sheet