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Access
Biosimilars & access substitution
The same biological medicine at a fraction of the price, and the honest limits of that swap.
What it is
A biosimilar is a biological medicine shown to be highly similar to an originator, with no clinically meaningful difference in safety or effectiveness. In India they routinely cost 40–70% less, and for many patients they are the difference between having the treatment and not having it.
Not every product marketed as a biosimilar has been through the same regulatory process. We check which specific product is being offered, and we tell you when the saving is real and when it is not.
When it is used
- Trastuzumab, rituximab, bevacizumab and similar biologicals
- Long courses where cumulative drug cost dominates
- Whenever a written cost estimate makes a course look unaffordable
- Growth factor and supportive biological products
How the decision is made
- Which specific biosimilar product, from which manufacturer, and on what regulatory basis.
- Whether switching mid-course is appropriate or whether consistency matters here.
- The whole-course saving in rupees, not the per-vial difference.
Decided here as part of the cost plan; the medicine is dispensed wherever you are treated.
Who does what
What we handle, and what happens elsewhere
KPCIRC handles
- A named-product recommendation, not a generic suggestion to 'ask for a biosimilar'
- The whole-course cost difference in writing
- A note in the plan so the treating unit knows what was agreed
- Escalation if a substitution is refused without a clinical reason
Performed and billed elsewhere
- Dispensing and administration
- We take no share of any drug purchase, and we do not direct you to a particular pharmacy. If a substitution is being pushed on you without a clinical explanation, ask us.
Questions to ask your own doctor
Take these with you. They work whether or not you are treated here.
- Which exact product are you recommending, and who makes it?
- What does this save over the whole course?
- Is there any reason not to switch in my case?
- Does this change how my response is monitored?
Support that goes with it
Where this is used
Cancers this commonly forms part of
Breast cancer
Including hormone-receptor positive, HER2-positive and triple-negative disease
Lymphoma
Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphoma
Colorectal cancer
Colon and rectal cancer, bowel cancer
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer
Lung & thoracic cancer
Non-small cell and small cell lung cancer, mesothelioma, thymic tumours
Not sure this is the right option for you?
That is exactly what a second opinion is for. Bring what you have, we will tell you what is missing and what the alternatives actually are, in writing.