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Correspondence
Switching from the bio-originators to biosimilar: is it premature to recommend this procedure?
  1. Fabrizio Cantini1,
  2. Maurizio Benucci2
  1. 1Department Rheumatology, Azienda USL Toscana Centro, Hospital of Prato, Prato, Italy
  2. 2Rheumatology Clinic, Azienda USL Toscana Centro, Nuovo S Giovanni di Dio Hospital, Florence, Italy
  1. Correspondence to Dr Fabrizio Cantini, Department Rheumatology, Azienda USL Toscana Centro, Hospital of Prato, Prato 59100, Italy; fbrzcantini{at}gmail.com

https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2017-212820

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    We read with interest the recently published recommendations for the use of biosimilars in rheumatology practice.1 However, we have some concerns regarding recommendation 6 on the efficacy and safety of switching from the originator biologic to the respective biosimilar. Considering the strong impact of the European League Against Rheumatism recommendations on real-life clinical decisions, such recommendation seems not sufficiently supported by the evidence because available data do not allow to draw definitive conclusion on the switching strategy. To date, the efficacy and safety of infliximab and etanercept biosimilars in substitution of the bio-originators have been assessed in four long-term extension reports following the blinded phase …

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    Footnotes

    • Handling editor Josef S Smolen

    • Contributors FC and MB equally contributed to writing the manuscript.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.