Chris Crawford, founder and CEO of RXSaveCard, said that prices for specialty drugs are expected to decline as generics and biosimilars enter the market. This development is anticipated to generate significant savings per prescription for employers using RXSaveCard. The statement was made on LinkedIn on March 26.
"As patents expire for specialty drugs, prices should come down when generics and biosimilars become available," said Crawford, Founder & CEO, according to LinkedIn. "Plan Sponsors, these are drugs to watch—especially if your pharmacy benefit manager mandates the use of their own specialty pharmacy. We typically see savings of $6,000+ per prescription on this cancer medication when employers add RxSaveCard compared to what PBMs charge."
According to industry projections, as biosimilars gain traction, they are expected to significantly reduce costs in the U.S. healthcare system, with potential savings of up to $133 billion by 2025. These savings arise from their ability to provide lower-cost alternatives to expensive biologic drugs.
With the introduction of generic versions of Sprycel (dasatinib), substantial price reductions are anticipated, following trends observed with other generics. For example, generic imatinib, a similar leukemia treatment, has seen its price drop to as low as $47 per month compared to its brand-name cost of over $130,000 annually.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) often prioritize high-cost brand-name biologics over cheaper biosimilars, which slows their adoption. For instance, leading PBMs have favored Humira, a costly brand-name drug, even though biosimilar versions offer discounts exceeding 80%.
Crawford is the founder and CEO of RXSaveCard, a health tech company focused on lowering prescription drug costs through transparent pricing and bypassing traditional pharmacy benefit managers. According to his LinkedIn profile, Crawford has over 20 years of experience in healthcare cost containment and previously led several ventures in digital health innovation.
RXSaveCard is a prescription savings platform that partners with cost-transparent providers to deliver lower drug prices to employers and individuals. As said on its official site, RXSaveCard offers a direct-to-consumer model that circumvents pharmacy benefit manager markups, making specialty drugs more affordable through sources like the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company.
