Episode 245: Biosimilar Basics for Oncology Nurses and Patients

“The way I approach patient education conversations is to discuss it, address it, but not to emphasize it. I really like to focus on what the drug is. I mention if it’s a biosimilar, I explain it, I give resources if they want it, but I really try to focus on the things that they’re going to need to know in order to help be part of their care, but have readily available information to give them if they want more,” ONS affiliate member Rowena (Moe) Schwartz, PharmD, BCOP, professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio, told Jaime Weimer, MSN, RN, AGCNS-BC, AOCNS^®, oncology clinical specialist at ONS during a discussion about the basics of biosimilars for nurses and patients. You can earn free NCPD contact hours after listening to this episode and completing the evaluation linked below.

Music Credit: “Fireflies and Stardust” by Kevin MacLeod

Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0

Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at myoutcomes.ons.org by February 3, 2025. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of NCPD by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Learning outcome: The learner will report a gain in knowledge related to biosimilars.

Episode Notes

• Complete this evaluation for free NCPD.
• ONS Biosimilars Learning Library
• ONS Voice articles:
  • FDA Publishes Three New Biosimilars Resources for Healthcare Providers
  • Nurses Will Forge New Territory With Biosimilars in Cancer Care
  • Biosimilars, Oral Agents, and Drugs Targeted Genetic Mutations Are Creating a Paradigm Shift in Cancer Treatment
• Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing articles:
  • Approval Process: An Overview of Biosimilars in the Oncology Setting
  • Nursing Roles: Clinical Implications Regarding Trends, Administration, and Education for Biosimilars in Oncology Practice
  • Biosimilars: Exploring the History, Science, and Progress
  • Clinical Trials: Nursing Roles During the Approval Process and Pharmacovigilance of Biosimilars
• American Society of Clinical Oncology Statement: Biosimilars in Oncology
• American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy article: Biosimilar Strategic Implementation at a Large Health System
• U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) resources on biosimilars
  • Nonproprietary Naming of Biological Products
  • Purple Book Database of Licensed Biological Products
  • Patient education
  • Review and approval
• Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association
• International Society of Oncology Pharmacy Practitioners

To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities.

To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org.

Highlights From Today’s Episode

“For generic products, it’s important that they are the same as the brand-name product. The differences there tend to be only inactive ingredients. And for a biosimilar, it’s very similar to that biologic, and it’s supposed to have no clinically meaningful differences from the reference product.” Timestamp (TS) 06:46

“There was a lot of discussion about how would we identify when a patient got a biosimilar? A naming convention was implemented in 2017 that would help address understanding what particular drug a patient got at every point in care. The naming is done so that you have the core nonproprietary name, and then there’s a four letter suffix added. . . . That naming convention was for all biologics that were approved that U.S. Food and Drug Administration naming guidance was implemented. And it’s so that when that biologic comes out, if a biosimilar is ever approved, you would be able to differentiate.” TS 12:50

“The way I approach patient education conversations is to discuss it and address it but not to emphasize it. Because then I think it almost creates a question in the person’s mind, ‘Is this as good?’ We saw that with generics, we see that with biosimilars, and I really think that people need to know that this is the drug that you’re using. They’re pretty much overwhelmed, just even about the side effects. So I really like to focus on this is what the drug is, I mention if it’s a biosimilar, I explain it, I give resources if they want it, but I really try to focus on the things that they’re going to need to know in order to help be part of their care but have readily available information to give them if they want more.” TS 17:19

“As we get more of these products, as we use them, I think that the healthcare team is becoming more comfortable. And I think that is definitely felt by patients, caregivers, and families. As people get more comfortable with the data and the understanding of these, I think that will help patients and kind of flow over to the whole team.” TS 19:06

Listen on:

Listen on Amazon Music, Listen on Apple Podcasts, Listen on Spotify, Listen on YouTube Music