Table 1.
Comparison of patient characteristics at IP between patients with reference product and biosimilar as IP
| Variables, n (%) | Total | Patients with IP=reference product |
Patients with IP=biosimilar |
P value |
| Observations | 18 953 | 15 453 (81.5) | 3500 (18.5) | |
| Sex | ||||
| Male | 7275 (38.4) | 5895 (38.1) | 1380 (39.4) | * |
| Female | 11 678 (61.6) | 9558 (61.9) | 2120 (60.6) | * |
| Age group | ***† | |||
| <50 years | 5501 (29.0) | 4613 (29.9) | 888 (25.4) | |
| 50–64 years | 4720 (24.9) | 3764 (24.4) | 956 (27.3) | |
| 65–74 years | 3963 (20.9) | 3001 (19.4) | 962 (27.5) | |
| >74 years | 4769 (25.2) | 4075 (26.4) | 694 (19.8) | |
| Language region | ***† | |||
| German | 12 719 (67.1) | 9958 (64.4) | 2761 (78.9) | |
| French | 4324 (22.8) | 3777 (24.4) | 547 (15.6) | |
| Italian | 1910 (10.1) | 1718 (11.1) | 192 (5.5) | |
| Number of comorbidities | **† | |||
| 0 | 4738 (25.0) | 3901 (25.2) | 837 (23.9) | |
| 1 | 3295 (17.4) | 2664 (17.2) | 631 (18.0) | |
| 2 | 3072 (16.2) | 2448 (15.8) | 624 (17.8) | |
| >2 | 7848 (41.4) | 6440 (41.7) | 1408 (40.2) | |
| Deductible | ***† | |||
| Low | 15 765 (83.2) | 12 846 (83.1) | 2919 (83.4) | |
| High | 3188 (16.8) | 2607 (16.9) | 581 (16.6) | |
| Managed care | 11 921 (62.9) | 9790 (63.4) | 2131 (60.9) | *** |
| Category | ***† | |||
| Fusion proteins | 360 (1.9) | 178 (1.2) | 182 (5.2) | |
| Hormones | 2112 (11.1) | 1697 (11.0) | 415 (11.9) | |
| Monoclonal antibodies | 2908 (15.3) | 2107 (13.6) | 801 (22.9) | |
| LMW heparins | 10 272 (54.2) | 10 196 (66.0) | 76 (2.2) | |
| Growth factors | 3301 (17.4) | 1275 (8.3) | 2026 (57.9) | |
| Multiple package sizes | 16 432 (86.7) | 13 532 (87.6) | 2900 (82.9) | ***† |
| Cost per package of reference product (in SFr) | ***† | |||
| <100 | 9866 (52.1) | 9652 (62.5) | 214 (6.1) | |
| 100–599 | 5066 (26.7) | 3179 (20.6) | 1887 (53.9) | |
| >600 | 4021 (21.2) | 2622 (17.0) | 1399 (40.0) | |
| Relative price difference (%) | ***† | |||
| <10 | 13 807 (72.8) | 11 546 (74.7) | 2261 (64.6) | |
| 10–19 | 2386 (12.6) | 1871 (12.1) | 515 (14.7) | |
| >20 | 2760 (14.6) | 2036 (13.2) | 724 (20.7) | |
| Number of available imitator drugs | ***† | |||
| 0 | – | – | – | |
| 1 | 12 490 (65.9) | 12 012 (77.7) | 478 (13.7) | |
| 2 | 2741 (14.5) | 1911 (12.4) | 830 (23.7) | |
| >2 | 3722 (19.6) | 1530 (9.9) | 2192 (62.6) | |
| Supply channel of first prescription | ***† | |||
| General practitioner | 1185 (6.3) | 1097 (7.1) | 88 (2.5) | |
| Outpatient hospital | 6224 (32.8) | 4359 (28.2) | 1865 (53.3) | |
| Specialist | 3606 (19.0) | 2674 (17.3) | 932 (26.6) | |
| Traditional pharmacy | 7564 (39.9) | 6981 (45.2) | 583 (16.7) | |
| Rest | 374 (2.0) | 342 (2.2) | 32 (0.9) |
Significant codes: *p<0.05 **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.
*Fisher’s exact test.
†Χ2 test.
IP, initial prescription; LMW, low-molecular-weight.