Mark Cuban’s drug company to sell Humira biosimilar

In its latest square-up with Big Pharma, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company will offer a biosimilar version of AbbVie’s blockbuster drug Humira at a steep discount, starting in July.

Humira—which treats inflammatory diseases including Crohn’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis—is one of the best-selling drugs of the last 25 years, and has brought in $200 billion for AbbVie over the last two decades. It has a monthly list price of around $6,240, according to Drugs.com. Cost Plus Drugs plans to sell the biosimilar version, called Yusimry and manufactured by Coherus BioSciences, for $569 per month, the company announced this month.

AbbVie lost market exclusivity for Humira in January, and seven more biosimilars will hit the market by the end of the year. AbbVie executives anticipate that the expected biosimilar launches will cause a ~37% drop in Humira sales in 2023, and reported that global Humira sales were down 25% in Q1.

Uninsured and underinsured Humira patients will likely benefit most from buying the biosimilar through Cost Plus Drugs. Most Medicare and insurance plans cover Humira, so insured patients often only have to pay a monthly copay—which can be as little as $5.

“Humira is the top-selling medicine of all time, but for those without insurance or who are underinsured, this therapy and other biologic medicines have been out of reach due to price,” Alex Oshmyansky, cofounder and CEO of Cost Plus Drugs, said in a press release.

Adam Fein, CEO of pharmaceutical research firm Drug Channels Institute, told Stat that Yusimry could start a “price war” among the other Humira biosimilar manufacturers and force the manufacturers to try innovative approaches to pricing.

Cost Plus Drugs did not immediately respond to Healthcare Brew’s request for comment, but Mark Cuban said in a statement that the Coherus partnership “is just our first step in making biologics affordable for patients.”