The push to script a new chapter for biosimilars

Chad Rieger, Head of Medical Affairs & Policy at Sandoz, and Deidre MacKechnie, CEO of the Australian Patient Advocacy Alliance (APAA), confront the uncomfortable truth that Australia has fallen significantly behind when it comes to biosimilars.

With global counterparts accelerating biosimilar adoption, the conversation starts by unpacking the drag on Australia’s momentum. The duo offer a candid look at what is really stalling progress.

Then comes the curveball: Sandoz’s policy recommendation to mandate biosimilars for new patients. Rieger makes the case for bold reform, arguing that this move could unlock significant savings for the health portfolio. But at what cost to patient and clinician choice?

The conversation widens to explore whether savings from increased biosimilar use will actually be reinvested in chronic disease initiatives – or whether, as history suggests, they will quietly vanish into unrelated budget black holes.

In a system already buckling under the weight of a public hospital crisis, industrial action, and a shaky private health sector, the pair explore where biosimilar reform realistically sits on the Health Minister’s agenda.

With the re-elected Labor government likely to hold power for the next six years, is this the window for meaningful health reforms or just more of the same in a system spinning its wheels?

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