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Review
. 2025 Apr;14(4):621-641.
doi: 10.1007/s40123-025-01104-3. Epub 2025 Feb 26.

Clinical and Socioeconomic Burden of Retinal Diseases: Can Biosimilars Add Value? A Narrative Review

Seenu M Hariprasad #  1 , Frank G Holz #  2 , Carl V Asche  3 , Amine Issa  4 , Oriol Mora  4 , Simon Keady  4 , Mourad F Rezk  4 , Phil Sarocco  5 , Steven Simoens  6
Affiliations
Review

Clinical and Socioeconomic Burden of Retinal Diseases: Can Biosimilars Add Value? A Narrative Review

Seenu M Hariprasad et al. Ophthalmol Ther. 2025 Apr.

Abstract

Retinal diseases, such as neovascular age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vein occlusion, pose a significant global burden on individuals, families, and healthcare systems. Intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy has become the standard treatment for retinal diseases, improving clinical outcomes, while delaying disease progression. Although effective, biologics are associated with high costs, which can lead to underutilisation and, consequently, suboptimal patient treatment outcomes, further contributing to healthcare costs. Additionally, the expansion in the elderly population is predicted to significantly increase costs and burden on healthcare systems due to retinal diseases, requiring effective strategies and the utilisation of emerging technologies that are crucial public health priorities for tackling global vision impairment. Recently, anti-VEGF biosimilars have been approved and are expected to provide a cost-effective alternative, while providing equivalent efficacy and comparable safety, immunogenicity, and pharmacokinetic profiles as the reference product. The entry of biosimilars holds the promise of meeting some of these unmet needs, giving physicians and patients access to sustainable treatments that can provide cost-effective therapy, enabling savings to be reinvested into healthcare facilities. This article aims to review the impact of retinal diseases on clinical, social, and financial aspects of patient care, emphasising the potential value of biosimilars in ophthalmology.

Keywords: Anti-VEGF; Biosimilars; Burden; Choroidal vascular disease; Cost-effectiveness; Economic; Retinal diseases; Retinal vascular disease; Socioeconomic.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of Interest: Seenu M. Hariprasad is a consultant or on the speakers' bureau for Bayer, Allergan/AbbVie, Coherus, Astellas/Iveric Bio, Alimera Sciences, Biogen, Harrow and Regeneron. Frank G. Holz reports research grants and consulting fees from Acucela, Allergan, Apellis, Bayer, Bioeq/Formycon, Roche/Genentech, Geuder, Heidelberg Engineering, Astellas/ivericBio, Pixium Vision, Novartis, Zeiss; consulting fees from Alexion, Alzheon, Annexon, Astellas, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Grayburg Vision, Janssen, LinBioscience, Stealth BioTherapeutics, Aerie, Oxurion. Carl V. Asche has no conflicts of interest. Amine Issa, Oriol Mora and Mourad F. Rezk are employees of Biogen International GmbH and may hold stock in Biogen. Simon Keady and Phil Sarocco are former employees of Biogen. Their new affiliations are: Phil Sarocco, Halozyme, Inc., employee and shareholder; Simon Keady, Galderma (UK) Ltd, employee. Steven Simoens is one of the founders of the KU Leuven Fund on Market Analysis of Biologics and Biosimilars following Loss of Exclusivity (MABEL). He was involved in a stakeholder roundtable on biologics and biosimilars sponsored by Amgen, Pfizer and MSD; he has participated in advisory board meetings for Pfizer, Organon and Amgen; he has contributed to studies on biologics and biosimilars for Hospira, Celltrion, Mundipharma and Pfizer; and he has had speaking engagements for Abbott, Amgen, Biogen, Celltrion and Sandoz. Ethical Approval: This article is based on previously conducted studies and does not contain any new studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Estimated annual healthcare costs of key chronic diseases in the USA [139, 140]. nAMD neovascular age-related macular degeneration
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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