Hyrimoz Biosimilar?

[Sea_Star]

Hi all! I haven't been on here for a really long time, as I've done really well on Humira for 9 years. I started a new job in June this year, and therefore, got new insurance. Welp, I was informed my insurance which goes through CVS Caremark, doesn't cover/supply Humira, so my GI doctor at Mayo recommended the biosimilar Hyrimoz. I was extreeeemely nervous at first, fearing losing remission, but i've had three Hyrimoz injections so far, and it's been smooth sailing....until last week, when some RLQ aching showed up. I had a lot of stress last week (and ate a lot of carbs lol), so maybe that's it (I've had a couple blips with Humira too), but all of a sudden my Hyrimoz fears came flooding back these last few days.

So I'm here coming to the Crohn's experts from a patient's pov:

1.) Has anyone had to switch to a biosimilar, Hyrimoz specifically? If so, what has your experience been like?
2.) I can't find studies where Hyrimoz is studied to be similar to Humira (i need to know the science lol).

 

[dreamintwilight]

Hi all! I haven't been on here for a really long time, as I've done really well on Humira for 9 years. I started a new job in June this year, and therefore, got new insurance. Welp, I was informed my insurance which goes through CVS Caremark, doesn't cover/supply Humira, so my GI doctor at Mayo recommended the biosimilar Hyrimoz. I was extreeeemely nervous at first, fearing losing remission, but i've had three Hyrimoz injections so far, and it's been smooth sailing....until last week, when some RLQ aching showed up. I had a lot of stress last week (and ate a lot of carbs lol), so maybe that's it (I've had a couple blips with Humira too), but all of a sudden my Hyrimoz fears came flooding back these last few days.

So I'm here coming to the Crohn's experts from a patient's pov:

1.) Has anyone had to switch to a biosimilar, Hyrimoz specifically? If so, what has your experience been like?
2.) I can't find studies where Hyrimoz is studied to be similar to Humira (i need to know the science lol).

How're you doing now? I'm being forced to switch to a different Humira biosimilar, Amjevita, in January and have been nervous about it since I've been in remission for 10+ years too.

 

[Sea_Star]

How're you doing now? I'm being forced to switch to a different Humira biosimilar, Amjevita, in January and have been nervous about it since I've been in remission for 10+ years too.

I'm sorry you're being forced to switch too Thankfully, I'm doing ok now--that blip in September worried me, though all the bloodwork/scans confirmed I'm still in clinical remission so that eased my mind a bit! I have heard if the biosimilar fails, your Dr can make a case to get back on Humira, but knock on wood things are stable right now

I totally understand the anxiety you must be feeling, but know your team is on your side and there's no way they would allow you to lose remission--sending faith and wishes this switch goes smoothly for you!

 

[dreamintwilight]

I'm sorry you're being forced to switch too Thankfully, I'm doing ok now--that blip in September worried me, though all the bloodwork/scans confirmed I'm still in clinical remission so that eased my mind a bit! I have heard if the biosimilar fails, your Dr can make a case to get back on Humira, but knock on wood things are stable right now

I totally understand the anxiety you must be feeling, but know your team is on your side and there's no way they would allow you to lose remission--sending faith and wishes this switch goes smoothly for you!

Yeah, when I let me PCP know about my impending switch to a biosimilar, he mentioned the same thing about if any sort of symptoms seem to pop back up that it should be plenty enough reason for the insurance company to approve a switch back to Humira. I'd rather not have any issues, honestly! But any change after so long of zero symptoms tends to make me nervous!

I'm glad to hear you are doing well on it though! Thanks for sharing your experience and updating on how you've been. I imagine there will be more and more people being forced to switch to Humira biosimilars due to insurance now that they've been approved to use in the US.

 

[ZWoman5]

Same situation, was on Humira for 10 years and worked extremely well, now Aetna forcing me to use something else so started with Hyrimoz for the first time a few weeks ago. So far so good. Interestingly, I find the needle a little less painful but I actually exhibit a bit more bruising in my thigh, not sure if that will change over time. Very concerned if these biosimilars will perform exactly the same way, I get that they should given the primary makeup of the ingredients, but they are not completely identicial. Also, I go through CVS Specialty for dispensing and not happy that part of the reason for no longer allowing Humira is that CVS has a financial relationship with Sandoz (the maker of Hyrimoz) to get a piece of the action.

 

[dreamintwilight]

Same situation, was on Humira for 10 years and worked extremely well, now Aetna forcing me to use something else so started with Hyrimoz for the first time a few weeks ago. So far so good. Interestingly, I find the needle a little less painful but I actually exhibit a bit more bruising in my thigh, not sure if that will change over time. Very concerned if these biosimilars will perform exactly the same way, I get that they should given the primary makeup of the ingredients, but they are not completely identicial. Also, I go through CVS Specialty for dispensing and not happy that part of the reason for no longer allowing Humira is that CVS has a financial relationship with Sandoz (the maker of Hyrimoz) to get a piece of the action.

I'm glad to hear you're doing well on your biosimilar so far. Please continue to keep us in the loop how things go! I'll run out of my Humira stash at the end of February, so the first week of March will be my first time injecting the biosimilar Amjevita. Fingers crossed things go well. I've wondered how the actual injection will go compared to Humira. I usually stick to my abdomen area, but the pens for Amjevita seem a bit fiddly and have wondered if it would easier to inject in my legs, but I remember getting more bruising back in the day in my legs in general because I don't have a lot of fat/muscle in my legs compared to my belly. I may have to experiment!

Just curious, do you use patient assistance to cover your Hyrimoz? I've encountered some blips with the patient assistance program for Amjevita, so just curious how the experience is with different biosimilars.

 

[ZWoman5]

Good luck with Amjevita, I hope it works well for you. Really unsure whether we will know in like a month, 3 months, a year, etc., whether these biosimiliars are just as effective as Humira. I don't want to have to lab work done every 3 months for example to find out. Anyway, as for copay, it has to be the most convoluted program. So for Hyrimoz, there are actually 3 different versions you could get - the true generic adalimunab-adaz, the Hyrimoz branded version made by Sandoz, and the Hyrimoz branded version made by Sandoz and co-sponsored (for a lack of a better word) by Cordavis, which is the company that CVS created and owns so that they get a lot of money for administering. Depending on which exact drug you get, your copay amounts and limits are different. I actually specifically had the doctor prescribe the Sandoz non-Cordavis version because it pays the most. But apparently there is a cap which supposedly at which time you can "apply" for additional monies, have no idea what that entails but don't like the idea of a cap of any sort, considering Abbvie's Humira co-pay never had one. And I've received conflicting information from this Hyrimoz co-pay program regarding reimbursement if you so choose to pay upfront - some reps have said they don't reimburse and other reps said they do but it takes like 6-8 weeks or something. So that tells you something about their customer service already, get a different answer every time I call. Net-net, not nearly as organized and buttoned-up as Abbvie's Humira program.