Published On: June 24, 2014304 words1.7 min readCategories: ArticleTags: ,

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<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;">NACDS RxIMPACT issued a grassroots advocacy alert today in Pennsylvania urging companies with business in the state to take action–by <a href="http://www.capwiz.com/nacds/callalert/index.tt?alertid=63264471&amp;type=ST ">calling </a>or sending a <a href="http://www.capwiz.com/nacds/issues/alert/?alertid=63264436&amp;type=ST ">letter</a>–today before the Pennsylvania Senate votes on Senate Bill 405, which would impose special physician notification requirements on the substitution of &ldquo;biosimilar&rdquo; products deemed interchangeable by the Food and Drug Administration.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;">In the alert, NACDS RxIMPACT stated that imposing special physician notification requirements for the substitution of biosimilars would be redundant, as prescribers determine whether it is appropriate for pharmacists to substitute when issuing a prescription. Special physician notifications will make it more difficult to dispense lower cost biosimilars.&nbsp;</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 12pt; text-align: left;">If enacted, this bill will impede greater savings for Pennsylvania&rsquo;s patients, health insurers and other third party payors, including Medicaid, while protecting the profits of brand biotech firms that will financially benefit from statutory barriers making the interchange of biosimilars more difficult.&nbsp;</p>
<p><em>For more information, please contact NACDS' <a href="jmccormack@nacds.org">Jill McCormack</a>&nbsp;or NACDS'&nbsp;<a href="hecker@nacds.org">Heidi Ecker</a>.</em></p>
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