The European Perspective and History on Biosimilars for the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

With the expiration of biologics' patents, biosimilars entered the market as a promising opportunity to reduce health-care costs in the field of inflammatory bowel diseases. Although biosimilars were initially poorly accepted, the growing evidence about their efficacy and safety has changed this situation, resulting in their widespread use. However, there is still an unmet need of improving patients' education about biosimilars to minimize nocebo responses and to accept nonmedical switching. Looking to the future, the use of recently authorized adalimumab biosimilars and the first attempts of adopting different strategies of switching (eg, cross-, multiple-) will fill some residual knowledge gaps. Lay Summary This article aims at giving an overview of the current state of knowledge on biosimilars in inflammatory bowel diseases, retracing its history in Europe and providing future perspectives.