The following is intended to help local clinical teams switch to biosimilar eculizumab.
There are three brands of eculizumab licensed for aHUS: Bekemv® (Amgen), Epysqli® (Samsung Bioepis), and Soliris® (Alexion).
NHS England recommend all patients on Soliris are switched to one of the two biosimilar brands of eculizumab (Bekemv or Epysqli) as both provide a significant saving against the cost of the originator brand (Soliris). The choice of biosimilar should be taken at a trust level and be dependent on any use for current patients, licensing differences relevant to some patient cohorts and the understanding that there is the possibility for these prices to change every 12 months (from September/October each year).
Homecare:
Both biosimilars will be pharma funded for homecare. Below is a list of homecare providers and which brand of eculizumab they are able to access.
| Homecare provider | Bekemv (Amgen) | Epysqli (Samsung Bioepis) | Soliris (Alexion) |
| Sciensus | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lloyds Homecare | Yes | ||
| Alcura | Yes | Yes | |
| HealthNet | Yes | Yes |
Teaching of homecare nurses
We have always provided teaching to the homecare nurses in Sciensus, Lloyds and Alcura. As both Amgen and Samsung Bioepis are using HealthNet, we have also provided teaching to these nurses about aHUS, troubleshooting, and the needs of our patients.
Monitoring after biosimilar switch
Monitoring (meningococcal and factor H autoantibodies)
Amgen and Samsung Bioepis have produced how to guides to facilitate a switch to their respective products, shown below.
As part of the switch process, certificate of vaccination is no longer required by any of the manufacturers of eculizumab.
The companies have provided links on how to order drug ahead of a planned switch.
We would recommend contacting our service (nuth.ahus.nurses@nhs.net) when clinical teams switch a patient, so we can confirm which homecare company they are with, to ensure communication in relation to meningococcal and factor H autoantibody monitoring is with the correct company
Licensing:
HealthNet have provided a document to support the process of switching product (biosimilar to biosimilar etc) and transitioning to them as a provider. Information can be found here
Sciensus have also provided a document which describes the services they offer in relation to switching products which can be found here
Licensing:
HealthNet have provided a document to support the process of switching product (biosimilar to biosimilar etc) and transitioning to them as a provider. Information can be found here
Sciensus have also provided a document which describes the services they offer in relation to switching products which can be found here
Order form for Epysqli
