Biosimilars and Me
ABBEY BLENDER
LIVING WITH: Crohn’s Disease LIVES IN: Chicago, IL
DIAGNOSED: 2013 TAKING A BIOSIMILAR SINCE: 2019
Abbey Blender had frequent stomach pain and upset since middle school. Then, she thought it was irritable bowel syndrome. By high school, things got much worse. “I was struggling with severe stomach pain,” Abbey recalls. “It felt like my insides were on fire.”
She could not participate on the gymnastics team the way she had before. She missed class often. She even began avoiding time with her friends. “I felt really inhibited and uncomfortable,” she says. “I had to know where a bathroom was all the time. I was insecure about being out and about and having to make sure I could find a bathroom or that I already knew where the bathrooms were anywhere I was.”
Her mother suspected Crohn’s Disease. Abbey’s mother, herself, was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease as a teenager. Abbey learned that her aunt also had Crohn’s Disease. Abbey’s mother took her to a gastroenterologist who ordered tests, including a colonoscopy. Her mother was right. At 16 years old, Abbey Blender was officially diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease. “I was overwhelmed. I didn’t know what the future held for me living with Crohn’s.”
“I was struggling with severe stomach pain. It felt like my insides were on fire.”
A new drug and big change
She started taking the steroid prednisone, which had unwanted effects. “It made my face blow up like a chipmunk,” Abbey says. She began taking another drug, a pill, but it didn’t help either. “I was still having terrible symptoms, low-grade fevers. I still missed a lot of classes.”
Disappointed and still very ill, Abbey worried nothing would help. “It was upsetting. I started to think there wasn’t a treatment plan that would work for me.”
Abbey’s doctor prescribed a biologic medication for her Crohn’s Disease.
Biologics are large, complex compounds derived from living organisms and made by complicated manufacturing processes. A biologic is often prescribed to a patient with inflammatory bowel disease when other medications have failed to manage their symptoms or make their disease go into remission.
“I wasn’t very fond of the idea that I had to go into a hospital and get an infusion in my arm,” she remembers. “I’d have to take off from school to get the infusions. I was like, I don’t want to live in a hospital bed with an IV in my arm for four hours every eight weeks. What a hassle!”
But Abbey was ready to try something that worked for her. About a week after her first infusion, she felt dramatically different. “It helped immensely. I finally felt relief, which I hadn’t felt in so long.”
Abbey returned to regular classes. She was able to start gymnastics again. She also got to spend time with the friends she missed.
“My life turned around,” she says. “I was a new person.”
Switched from a biologic to a biosimilar
Blender went away to college and continued her biologic infusions.
After graduation, she moved to Chicago to attend graduate school.
About two years ago, when she was 22, her new doctor suggested switching to a biosimilar to treat her Crohn’s Disease. A biosimilar is a complex compound that is highly similar to, but not an exact copy of, an existing biologic. Even so, you can’t call a biosimilar a “generic” biologic. While biosimilars are not generics, they are a less expensive version of the biologic and they become available after the original biologic compound loses its exclusive patent.
Today, some inflammatory bowel disease patients may be prescribed a biosimilar drug to treat their condition without ever having taken a biologic. Others may be switched to a biosimilar from a biologic for different reasons, including which type of drug their health plan covers.
Just like in high school, Abbey trusted that her doctor was offering something that would continue to provide relief from Crohn’s Disease symptoms.
“When I got my first infusion of the biosimilar, I did not notice a difference, not in the side effects or how it alleviated my symptoms. The entire process was very similar, very smooth, and the biosimilar helped me the same way that my biologic did.”
Two years later, Abbey continues her regular biosimilar infusions.
“It helped immensely. I finally felt relief, which I hadn’t felt in so long.”
Living a full life
“I know it might be scary to people to switch from a drug that they know and are used to, to a drug that they’ve never tried,” Abbey says. “But I felt just as good on the biosimilar as I did on the biologic.”
Now, Abbey takes a heavy course load in school and works in a hospital. She’s looking forward to traveling and spending more time with her close friends when the pandemic ends. She hopes other young people living with the condition understand that their lives are just beginning.
“I talk about my life with Crohn’s to give people confidence that it’s going to be ok,” Abbey says. “You’ll find a treatment plan that works for you. You’ll be able to live a full life again. I am.”
Questions with Abbey
Question: Did you know what a biosimilar was before you began to take one?
ABBEY: No. My doctor just told me it was similar to the biologic.
Question: What were your concerns about starting a biosimilar?
ABBEY: I understood it was similar to a biologic, but I still wondered how my body would react to a new drug.
QUESTION: You started taking a biologic when you were 16. At 22, your new doctor switched you to a biosimilar. Did you notice any difference in the administration or side effects since switching to the biosimilar?
ABBEY: No. There was no difference in the side effects or in the way it alleviated my symptoms. The infusion process is the similar. The transition process, for me, was very smooth.
“I live a very full life.”
This program was developed by Knighten Health on behalf of the AGA Institute and supported by independent medical education grants from Amgen Inc., Pfizer Inc., and Boehringer Ingelheim. The supporting organizations had no involvement in the development of this video or of the associated website and its content.
The views and statements expressed here are those of the video subjects and do not necessarily reflect the positions or beliefs of the American Gastroenterological Association or its members, the AGA Institute or any other subsidiary, agency, sponsor or funder.