An update on biosimilar drugs for inflammatory bowel disease.

Biological therapies for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have, since their introduction over 15 years ago, been separated from so-called 'conventional therapies' in the therapeutic paradigm. Although the TNF inhibitor infliximab is known to improve IBD outcomes in many different ways, several questions remain regarding the optimal way to employ this drug in the clinic, which are the questions not yet explored in clinical trials, in part, due to the drug's high cost. With the introduction of biosimilar drugs, including the infliximab biosimilar CT-P13, the therapeutic landscape in IBD will change. Access to biological drugs will widen and patients will be treated earlier. The division between 'conventional' and 'biological' therapy will be replaced by new treatment paradigms. Gaps in knowledge about the best use of anti-TNF therapies in IBD may also be filled due to the enhanced competition between manufacturers and the expected lower costs of biosimilars.