What are biosimilars?
Some biologics are now also available as “imitation medicines” called biosimilars. These are almost identical copies of the original active ingredient. They are produced by other companies and are often much cheaper than the original biologic.
The use of imitation products in medicine has been quite normal for some time now. Up until a few years ago, though, these were mostly identical copies of the active substances of chemically produced medicines. These are called generic drugs, or simply “generics.” One example is copies of the original drug “Aspirin.” Its active ingredient acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) is sold by various drug manufacturers at a lower price under different brand names. Usually, generics can’t be sold until the patent protecting the original medicine has expired.