Over 2 billion people worldwide cannot afford life-saving medicines, which puts their lives at risk. Making potentially life-saving drugs more affordable and accessible can help patients live a prolonged and better quality of life as well as reduce the health inequality. Controlling drug expenditure could also be key to preventing future health care cost inflation, given the multiple challenges that burden the healthcare system worldwide due to an ageing and growing population, burgeoning middle class, complexities of cancer, diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases.
Biological medications are at the forefront of medical advances today but their formidable cost consumes a significant portion of public and private drug spending. In comparison, biosimilars (a highly similar version of biologics), offer an equally effective option at an affordable cost, which offers the promise of a more sustainable solution. Healthcare must take many forms and should be made accessible to people of all socio-economic backgrounds.
