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# Biosimilar Savings Projected at $54 billion Over Next Decade
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/biosimilar-savings-projected-at-54-billion-over-next-decade/
- Published: 2017-10-23T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T22:57:37.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Biologics, #legacy-id-D5139941

Biosimilar approvals should help cut healthcare spending by $54 billion over the next decade, according to a new [analysis](https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PE264.html?ref=fdaweb.com) from the RAND Corporation. The cost savings projection is almost 20% greater than a similar analysis done by the researchers three years ago, “representing both improved analysis methods and rapid growth in spending for biologics overall,” the group says. “Biologics account for the fastest-growing segment of prescription drug spending, but biosimilars have the potential to help slow some of the increase,” said lead researcher **Andrew Mulcahy**. “However, there remain many important industry, regulatory and policy decisions to be made that will influence whether such savings are realized.”

One factor that has been evolving as the biosimilar pathway matures is the uncertainty surrounding intellectual property, according to the researchers. The biosimilars framework “introduced new procedures for resolving patent disputes between biosimilar and reference biologic manufacturers prior to their launch,” they note. “Some early biosimilar manufacturers have launched their products without going through the \[law’s\] ‘patent dance’ provisions, which involve notification and sharing of patent information between biosimilar and reference biologic manufacturers. Other manufacturers with FDA approved biosimilars have delayed entering the market to avoid patent litigation risk. A recent Supreme Court decision clarified some of the uncertainty about when the ‘patent dance’ provisions apply. This decision and other early cases will start to set the tone for how patents and litigation will influence biosimilar entry into the market.”