ASBM class helps introduce pharmacists to biosimilars

In the wake of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's first biosimilar approval, the Alliance for Safe Biologic Medicines (ASBM) recently held a five-hour class to educate pharmacists on the fundamentals of these new medicines.

The continuing-education class, ‘The Fundamentals of Biosimilars: What Every Pharmacist Will Need to Know,” was offered through the Long Island School of Pharmacy in New York City.

The class explained what biologics and biosimilars are, how they are manufactured and the regulatory challenges related to them.

"We are pleased to have the ASBM come to New York and give a thorough overview of such an important class of medicines. This is especially timely, given that the FDA just approved the very first biosimilar for U.S. patients two weeks ago," Joseph Bova, director of continuing professional education at the Arnold & Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Long Island University, said. "Biosimilars are highly advanced prescription medicines, and it's now more important than ever that we are educating the pharmacist community."

Key class discussions included the basic science of biologic medicines, clinical implications of the key features of biologics' size, their difference from generic drugs in patient care and regulations that many states are looking to implement.