Dr. Novik on the Potential Impact of Biosimilars on Cancer Treatment

Yelena Novik, MD, associate professor, New York University’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, discusses the potential impact of biosimilars on the treatment of cancer.

Biosimilars and generic drugs differ in the complexity of production, says Novik. Additionally, clinical trials are very expensive, and trying to reproduce something off an identical molecule—like a generic—will have a high cost without contributing anything new intellectually to society, Novik says.

It is a very complex issue, but at this point in time, medications need to be available for the wider population, Novik states. Although an oncologist’s primary responsibility is to get drugs for their individual patients, the overall goal in oncology is to provide the world’s population with the best treatment possible, which may be reached with biosimilars.