Last month we reported that Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Alaska were in the process of considering biosimilar substitution bills. Vermont and Connecticut recently enacted their respective bills.
On May 30, Vermont Governor Phil Scott signed bill S.92 into law as Act No. 193. The Act directs pharmacists to dispense to the patient the lowest-price interchangeable biological product and to notify the prescriber which biological product has been dispensed.
On June 4, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy signed Senate Bill No. 197 into law as Public Act No 18-74. The Act allows a pharmacist to substitute an interchangeable biological product for a prescribed biological product if it provides a savings in cost for the purchaser. The Act also includes provisions to notify purchasers that there may be cost saving interchangeable biological products available.
New Hampshire’s bill and Alaska’s bill remain under consideration.
Stay tuned to Big Molecule Watch for future biosimilar legislation updates.