When you work with patients living with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, you quickly learn that the hardest part of the illness is not always the symptoms. It is the uncertainty — the fear that the medication keeping you stable could suddenly become unaffordable or out of reach.
As a registered medical assistant and the owner of Primera Specialty Infusion in Lake Mary, I see that fear up close. Through our work in community-based infusion care and collaboration within programs designed to help reduce medication costs for patients, I also see how difficult access can become when pricing barriers stand in the way.
Every day, I work with patients who rely on advanced biologic medications to manage their disease.
For many people with inflammatory bowel disease, biologic drugs have been life-changing. These therapies can reduce severe symptoms, prevent hospitalizations and help patients live more normal lives. But they often come with an enormous price tag, and those costs are rising.
Across the country, 63% of Americans say they struggle with the cost of health care. Drugmakers increased the prices of nearly 1,000 medications this year alone, putting even more pressure on families and seniors who already have to make difficult financial choices.
When prescription prices keep climbing, patients are forced into impossible decisions — skipping doses, delaying treatment or choosing between medication and other basic needs. For people with Crohn’s disease, those decisions can have serious consequences, including painful flares, emergency room visits and long-term complications.
What many people do not realize is that brand-name drugs account for only about 10% of prescriptions, yet they make up nearly 88% of total drug spending. That imbalance reflects just how expensive these therapies have become.
There is a solution that could help change this: biosimilars.
Biosimilars are safe, effective, lower-cost alternatives to brand-name biologic drugs. They go through rigorous testing to prove they work just as well as the original therapies. And when they enter the market, they create competition that helps bring prices down.
In fact, biosimilars generated more than $20 billion in savings in a single year and are often sold for about half the price of brand-name drugs.
Hyrimoz is priced about 80% lower than the list price of Humira, a widely used treatment for conditions including rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease that carries an annual list price of roughly $90,000 in the United States.
Wezlana is priced about 81% lower than Stelara, a treatment for psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and Crohn’s disease that can exceed $165,000 per year. When lower-cost biosimilars like these are pushed aside, it is patients who pay the price.
In my work, I have seen what happens when a patient finally gets access to the right medication. Symptoms improve. Energy returns. People begin planning their lives again instead of planning around their illness.
I have also seen the stress and emotional toll when access is delayed or denied — even when lower-cost alternatives exist. That is why expanding access to biosimilars matters so much.
When competition is allowed to work, prices fall. That means fewer financial barriers, more treatment options and better outcomes for patients. It also means lower costs for employers, health plans and public programs. Patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis already face enough challenges. They should not have to fight for affordable access to the medications that keep them stable.
Biosimilars offer a practical, proven way to lower costs and expand access. Policymakers should ensure nothing stands in the way of fair competition, because for the patients I see every day, affordable treatment is not just an economic issue — it is a lifeline.
Amy Sue Harper is the founder and CEO of Primera Specialty Infusion in Lake Mary.
