The Rise of Trastuzumab Biosimilars
- Jasmine Zhou
- Mar 28, 2024
- 2 min read
Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world, and is the most common cancer among women. Annually, there are 2.3 million new cases, emphasizing a need for treatments that target breast cancers. One such drug is Trastuzumab.
Trastuzumab is a cancer drug under the brand name Herceptin. Commonly used in HER2-positive breast cancer treatment, the drug is a monoclonal antibody that targets an overexpressed protein found in 20 to 30% of all cases. It is typically administered intravenously and can be used on its own or as part of a multi drug regimen. Herceptin represents an important step in personalized medicine as the drug is able to target specific molecular features of cancer cells. Herceptin is not only effective at treating cancer, it has also been shown to reduce cancer recurrence by up to 50%, thus vastly improving breast cancer survival rates. Unfortunately, Herceptin is inaccessible to many patients due to high costs and limited availability. In lower income regions, less than 5% of eligible patients are able to receive Herceptin as part of their cancer treatments.
The inaccessible nature of Herceptin represents a critical issue of health equity. The high cost of treatment affects lower income areas in particular, drastically reducing the number of patients that are able to receive potentially life saving treatment. Solving the issue of inaccessibility would mean significantly reducing the medical burden of breast cancer on healthcare systems worldwide.
This demand for accessible and affordable healthcare has led to biosimilars of Trastuzumab to be developed. Biosimilars are biologic products that are highly similar to licensed reference biologic products but not identical. They have the potential to increase access to treatment for patients by providing more affordable options compared to the original brand name medications. This trend is already visible in India, where the use of Trastuzumab biosimilars has overtaken the use of the original medication.
The rise of Trastuzumab biosimilars is a step in the right direction. Further development of biosimilars and other targeted cancer therapies have the potential to increase cancer survival rates and drastically reduce the burden on healthcare systems.
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