U.S. Spending on Biologic Drugs Growing Faster Than Traditional Drugs, AARP Says

Spending on expensive biologic drugs in the United States is growing more than 10 times faster than spending on traditional small-molecule drugs, according to a fact sheet released recently by the AARP Public Policy Institute.

The October fact sheet, Biologics in Perspective: The New Biosimilar Approval Pathway, examines provisions in the health care reform law that created a pathway for Food and Drug Administration approval of generic versions of biologic drugs, also called biosimilars.