August 8, 2019; Nashville, TN – OneOncology announced today that its partner practices have already begun administering two biosimilars from Amgen, MVASI™ (bevacizumab-awwb), a biosimilar to Avastin® (bevacizumab), and KANJINTITM (trastuzumab-anns), a biosimilar to Herceptin® (trastuzumab), which were recently made commercially available in the United States. OneOncology practices are among the first in the country to make the decision to purchase the Amgen biosimilars, demonstrating their continued commitment to cost conscious healthcare for patients and payers.

OneOncology said both biosimilars have been adopted as preferred formulary agents at partner practices as part of the company’s cost effectiveness strategy and result in an estimated 15 percent cost savings, ultimately reducing therapeutic costs for patients as well as public and commercial payers.

“While biologics have made important and exciting progress treating some cancers, they have also come at a great financial cost,” said Dr. Jeffrey Patton, OneOncology President of Physician Services. “Making MVASI and KANJINTI preferred OneOncology agents gives our physicians immediate access to cutting-edge therapies and reinforces our commitment to leading the oncology marketplace and delivering the highest-quality and most cost-effective care to our patients.”

MVASI, the first oncology therapeutic biosimilar approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), is approved for the treatment of five types of cancer. KANJINTI is FDA approved for all approved indications of Herceptin: the treatment of HER2-overexpressing adjuvant and metastatic breast cancer and HER2-overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma. HER2-positive breast cancers account for about 25% of all breast cancers.

A biosimilar is a biologic medication that is highly similar to a reference product, with only minor differences in clinically inactive components and does not have any clinically meaningful differences from the biologic regarding safety, purity, and potency. Some estimates predict a cost savings of approximately $54 billion over ten years with increased usage of biosimilar medications.1

“Cancer care is increasingly complex and the introduction of biosimilars to providers adds to this complexity,” said Dr. Lee Schwartzberg, OneOncology Chief Medical Officer. “As we begin to incorporate biosimilar medications into our treatment pathways, we will collaborate with our physicians to navigate the fluctuating healthcare landscape and drive initiatives that ensure our clinicians appropriately utilize the right therapeutic sequence at the right time for the right patient.”

Making biosimilars preferred formulary agents is just one of the initiatives OneOncology has underway to deliver on their quadruple aim – increase access, improve quality, reduce costs and transform the patient experience.

1 Mulcahy AW, Hlavka JP, Case SR. Biosimilar Cost Savings in the United States: Initial Experience and Future Potential. Rand Health Q. 2018;7(4):3.