Biosimilars and generic drugs are expected to slow drug cost growth this year, a new report shows.

Total drug spending rose 7.7% from 2020 to 2021 to $576.9 billion due to rising use of COVID-19 treatments, according to the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists analyze. Drug prices will rise only 1.9% in 2021, in part due to new biosimilars and generic drug launches.

drug spending Rose From 2019 to 2020, it rose 4.9% to $535.3 billion, while prices rose 0.3%.

“Biosimilars have really taken off this year,” Eric Tichy, the report’s lead author and chair of Mayo Clinic’s supply chain management division, said in a news release. “In oncology, we use more biosimilars than our originator drugs. A few years ago, people were shocked by the slow uptake of biosimilars, but things have improved. Their use will likely continue to grow, And it saves the health care system a lot of money.”

Here are five takeaways from the report:

1. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved four biosimilars in 2021, three of which are on the market. Nine out of 34 approved biosimilars have been delayed due to patent lawsuits filed by related biomakers. As of February, 21 were listed on the US market.U.S. Food and Drug Administration officially recognized The first biosimilar for macular degeneration, ranibizumab-Nuna. In 2021, Clinics spent $1.7 billion on its biological reference drug ranibizumab. The two biosimilars for insulin are also considered interchangeable and are related to the biologics Humira and Lantis.
2. Biosimilar spending in clinics will increase from $4.3 billion in 2020 to $5.3 billion in 2021. Hospital spending on biosimilars increased from $700 million to $1.1 billion. Significant market share growth for cancer and autoimmune biosimilars.
3. Of the spending in 2021, hospitals accounted for $39.6 billion, up 8.4%, and clinics accounted for $105 billion, up 7.7%. Higher usage and new drugs drove spending growth despite a 1.4% drop in drug prices. That could change in 2022 if manufacturers try to pass on the increased costs, the report said. “In an inpatient setting, when tocilizumab is typically used in outpatient settings, remdesivir and tocilizumab are used in huge volumes,” said Erin Fox, director of senior pharmacy at the University of Utah Health. “While prices won’t necessarily go up, inpatient settings will cost more.”
4. Remdesivir, used to treat COVID-19 patients, dominated hospital drug spending with $3.1 billion, more than the next three drugs combined.
5. Some expensive branded drugs could lose patent protection this year. In 2021, hospitals and clinics will spend $1.2 billion on a branded version of the chemotherapy drug pemetrexed, $1.1 billion on the chemotherapy drug bortezomib, $712 million on the diabetes drug vasopressin, It spent $652 million on the imaging drug regapine and $495 million on the chemotherapy drug lenalidomide. Each of the patents on these branded drugs will expire.