NHS saves ￡1.2bn in drive to switch to cheaper versions of medicines

摘要

Around four in every five medicines prescribed in the NHS is now non-branded, a move that has saved the NHS ￡1.2bn in just three years, NHS England has announced. A third of these savings came from switching patients with rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis from Humira (adalimumab; AbbVie) to biosimilar adalimumab after the exclusive patent on the drug expired in 2018.