Real-world clinical, safety, and economic evaluation of infliximab biosimilar adoption for crohn's disease.

BACKGROUND

Biosimilar infliximab (B-IFX) offers a lower-cost alternative to originator infliximab (O-IFX) for treating Crohn's disease (CD), but real-world data on comparative effectiveness and economic impact in China remain limited. This study assessed clinical outcomes and economic consequences of B-IFX versus O-IFX from a healthcare payer perspective.

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study evaluated 473 adult CD patients initiating O-IFX (n = 345) or B-IFX (n = 128) at a tertiary care center for Chron's disease in China between October 2021 and February 2024. The clinical endpoints over 12 months included treatment failure, clinical remission, endoscopic response, and adverse events. A budget impact analysis evaluated direct healthcare costs (Chinese Yuan, CNY) and projected medical insurance fund expenditures under a reference scenario (continued O-IFX use) and a base-case scenario with increased B-IFX uptake for 2025-2027. One-way sensitivity analyses assessed model robustness.

RESULTS

Rates of treatment failure, clinical remission, endoscopic response, and adverse events were comparable between O-IFX and B-IFX. Relative to the reference scenario, increased B-IFX adoption was associated with lower annual direct medical costs and reduced insurance fund expenditures, yielding estimated savings of 0.60, 1.09, and 1.75 million CNY in 2025-2027, respectively (cumulative savings: 3.44 million CNY). Sensitivity analyses identified the unit price of O-IFX as the main cost driver; B-IFX remained cost saving across all parameter ranges, with cumulative 3-year savings ranging from 2.49 to 4.39 million CNY.

CONCLUSIONS

B-IFX demonstrated comparable real-world effectiveness and safety to O-IFX while generating substantial cost savings for China's medical insurance system. These findings support broader biosimilar adoption as a value-based strategy to enhance the affordability and sustainability of biologic therapy for CD.