Notification of biological medicine brand switch
Provided here is a letter template that you may wish to use to inform patients of a brand change in your hospital or private practice.
Copy the text below into the body of your existing letter template for your hospital or clinic, and update the required fields as indicated.
Private practice
We are writing to let you know that the brand of [biological molecule] used at [clinic] will be switched from [reference biological] to [biosimilar brand] over the next [time period/by expected date]. [biosimilar brand] is what is known as a “biosimilar medicine”. A biosimilar medicine is a highly similar version of an original brand of a biological medicine that is brought to market by a different manufacturer once the patent on the original brand expires. The patent for [reference biological] has expired and [biosimilar brand] is now being produced.
Over the last 10 years there has been a shift worldwide to use biosimilar medicines. Extensive research has shown that [biosimilar brand] is as safe and effective as [reference biological] (the brand of [biological molecule] that you are on at present). Biosimilar medicines encourage market competition and have the potential to generate substantial cost-savings for the Australian healthcare system. These savings could be used to subsidise more medicines or fund other areas of healthcare.
We have attached the product information sheet. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Hospital
We are writing to let you know that the brand of [biological molecule] used at [hospital] will be switched from [reference biological] to [biosimilar brand] over the next [time period/by expected date]. [biosimilar brand] is what is known as a “biosimilar medicine”. A biosimilar medicine is a highly similar version of an original brand of a biological medicine that is brought to market by a different manufacturer once the patent on the original brand expires. The patent for [reference biological] has expired and [biosimilar brand] is now being produced.
Over the last 10 years there has been a shift worldwide to use biosimilar medicines. Extensive research has shown that [biosimilar brand] is as safe and effective as [reference biological] (the brand of [biological molecule] that you are on at present). [biosimilar brand] comes at a reduced cost and these savings are vital to ensuring that the hospital can continue providing and expanding our dedicated [therapy area] services.
We have attached the product information sheet. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.