The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced the release of new educational materials for health-care professionals about biosimilar and interchangeable products.
The agency developed these educational materials to help increase understanding about these important new types of medication among health-care professionals. The materials include four fact sheets and graphics for health-care professionals that:
- Provide the basic definitions of terms such as biologic drugs, -reference products, biosimilar, interchangeable; and other terms to facilitate understanding of the relationship between biosimilars and their reference products
- Describe the rigorous standards any biosimilar must meet prior to approval, and explain how the FDA approval pathway works for these products
- Contain details about the data and information the FDA reviews to determine biosimilarity, and how to find more information
- Provide information about prescribing biosimilar and interchangeable products.
The FDA also developed tools to help professional societies and stakeholder organizations share information about biosimilars with their colleagues and members. These tools include social media posts for Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn; an infographic and infogifs; and drop-in newsletters and/or blog content. These stakeholder resources can be found in the Patient and Prescriber Outreach Materials web section.
Visit FDA.gov and search “Biosimilar Educational Materials” for more information and to access the campaign materials. ■
