The Health Service Executive could save €149 million annually by making greater use of lower-cost biosimilars – cheaper copies of expensive biological drugs – the Irish and UK head of Swiss pharma group Sandoz has claimed.
Diane DiGangi Trench, country head and general manager for Sandoz UK and Ireland, said biosimilar competition delivered an estimated €239 million in savings for the Irish healthcare system in 2025.
A further €148.8 million in “potential annual savings” could be realised through the greater uptake of biosimilars already available in Ireland and through the introduction of additional biosimilars already available in Europe, she said.
Previously a unit of Novartis, Sandoz is the world’s largest manufacturer of biosimilars. It acquired Cork pharma firm Rowex in 2024 and was the second-largest supplier of medicines to the HSE last year.
RM Block
Unlike generics, medicines made from living cells cannot be exactly copied and are referred to as biosimilars.
“Ireland could capture a lot more savings ... through greater uptake of the current biosimilars on the market as well as additional biosimilars being introduced,” DiGangi Trench said.
She noted that only 11 of 26 biosimilars (available in Europe) are marketed in Ireland, which represented the second-lowest uptake in Europe. Sandoz produces seven out of the 11 used here.
DiGangi Trench said one of the reasons for the slow uptake in Ireland was the HSE’s best-value biologics (BVB) medicines programme, which identifies lower-cost options within a specific drug class.
The BVB tender process is, however, only triggered when there are at least four competitor drugs, including the originator, and it takes 240 days, considerably longer than in other countries.
She noted that the ustekinumab drug, which is used in the treatment of psoriasis, had the potential to save the HSE almost €30 million annually, but the uptake here is just 30 per cent against a HSE target of 80 per cent.
The same is true of several other biosimilars, she said.
“A lack of control within the system” meant the potential savings “are just not happening”, she said. In practice that means while some parts of the HSE are utilising the newer lower-cost drugs, others are not.
“Ireland is spending more money than ever on healthcare and in trying to manage that growing pressure ... it could capitalise on more opportunities around biosimilars to reduce its medicines expenditure,” DiGangi Trench said.
Microsoft president Brad Smith: Ireland is “well-positioned for future of AI”
She predicted the next decade would be a “golden decade” for biosimilars as the patents on many branded medicines expire.
The company forecasts that approximately $650 billion (€597 billion) worth of branded medicines globally are due to lose patent exclusivity between now and 2036. DiGangi Trench compared it to the 2011-2016 patent cliff while noting that Sandoz wants to derive biosimilars from 100 products by 2040.
“There is this huge wave of biosimilars coming on the market, and that’s why it is in Ireland’s best interest ... to figure out how do you get uptake quicker, and how do you get more products to enter more quickly,” she said.
In North America, Sandoz’s biosimilar sales grew 47 per cent in the first half of 2026, driven by sales of its new bone disease drug Wyost and osteoporosis drug Jubbonti.
One of the largest opportunities for biosimilars and generics is the diabetes and obesity drug market.
The US Food and Drug Administration recently agreed to review two Sandoz-made tirzepatide drugs that, if approved, would rival obesity drugs made by Eli Lilly.
