Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39321121›Full record

ArticleJournal of managed care & specialty pharmacy2024

Utilization and patient characteristics for the trastuzumab reference and biosimilars, and other human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 inhibitors in the United States.

Xiaodan Mai, Aaron B Mendelsohn, James Marshall, Nancy D Lin, Cara L McDermott, Jenice S Ko, Pamala A Pawloski, Aziza Jamal-Allial, Kimberly Daniels, Cheryl N McMahill-Walraven and 2 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Current status and trends of anti-tumor biosimilars in China from 2019 to 2023: A cross-sectional analysis.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Xiaodan MaiHarvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Aaron B MendelsohnHarvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
James MarshallHarvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Nancy D LinIQVIA, Durham, NC.
Cara L McDermottAMCP Biologics and Biosimilars Collective Intelligence Consortium, Alexandria, VA.
Jenice S KoHarvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
Pamala A PawloskiHealthPartners Institute, Minneapolis, MN.
Aziza Jamal-AllialCarelon, Wilmington, DE.
Kimberly DanielsCarelon, Wilmington, DE.
Cheryl N McMahill-WalravenCVS Health, Blue Bell, PA.
Djeneba Audrey DjiboCVS Health, Blue Bell, PA.
Catherine M LockhartHarvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTrastuzumab is an antihuman epidermal growth factor receptor 2 monoclonal antibody used to treat breast and other cancers. Trastuzumab biosimilars were approved in the United States beginning in 2017. Utilization information on these biosimilars is limited.

objectiveTo examine utilization patterns and characteristics of patients treated with trastuzumab (biosimilars and reference) and other human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 products.

methodsWe evaluated health care claims data from the Biologics and Biosimilars Collective Intelligence Consortium distributed research network, representing a large, geographically diverse US population of commercially insured individuals. We queried 4 distributed research network health plan partners to capture product usage data and patient information from October 1, 2016, to October 31, 2022. Patients were required to be continuously enrolled in their health plan for at least 365 days before their first observed trastuzumab utilization date in this study period. Data were aggregated across data partners.

resultsMore than 16 million eligible health plan members representing more than 31 million person-years of data were evaluated. We identified 5,984 incident treatment episodes; 3,878 (64.8%) episodes were with the reference trastuzumab. The mean ages were consistent across trastuzumab products (60.2 to 65.1 years) and at least 80% of the episodes were among female patients. The mean comorbidity index score was 1.2 (SD = 1.9) among users of the reference vs the biosimilars (range 1.2-2.5). Other clinical characteristics (eg, diabetes, hypertension) were comparable across products. The proportion of total incident episodes of the reference trastuzumab decreased substantially over time (96% in 2016 vs 28% in 2021) as utilization of the biosimilars increased (eg, use of trastuzumab-anns increased from 2% [2019] to 36% [2021]). Similar utilization trends were seen among patients with and without metastatic breast cancer.

conclusionsTrastuzumab biosimilars utilization has grown since their introduction to the US market. Exploration of these biosimilars' comparative effectiveness and safety to their reference product is warranted.

Indexed as

Biosimilar PharmaceuticalsErb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine KinasesTrastuzumabAdolescentAdultAgedAntineoplastic Agents, ImmunologicalBreast NeoplasmsChildChild, PreschoolDrug UtilizationFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedUnited StatesAntineoplastic Agents, ImmunologicalBiosimilar PharmaceuticalsERBB2 protein, humanErb-b2 Receptor Tyrosine KinasesTrastuzumab

Identifiers

PMID39321121
PMCPMC11424920

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.