Biosimilar to Remicade

I’m currently taking entyvio every 4 weeks but most recent colonoscopy showed moderate inflammation rectum to cecum. GI wants to switch to Remicade. (Previously took Humira but did not respond). Insurance only covers Inflectra which is “bio similar”. have any of y’all taken this? Inflectras website says specifically “do not breastfeed” however my pediatrician and GI had both said breastfeeding was fine on Remicade so I’m curious if it’s okay to breastfeed with Inflectra or not with it being biosomilar. Any one have any insight if the biosimilar version is as effective as Remicade? I’m familiar with generics etc. but biosimilar is a bit different...

How long have you been on Entyvio? You need to give it at least six months before declaring it a failure and moving on.

With regards to failing Humira, how long were you on it? Did you have any response at all? Did you have an initial response followed by declining response? Did you have blood tests done to check your levels?

If Humira was a primary failure (meaning you had good levels for long enough, but it just didn't work), then Remicade isn't likely to work either. On the other hand, if you had *some* response to Humira, just not *enough* of a response, then Remicade very well could work.

As for the biosimilar to Remicade, in principle it should be just as effective as Remicade, but I'm not sure there's study data to support that specifically for UC patients. Also, the same comments above about Remicade apply to its biosimilars.

As for breastfeeding, it's OK with Remi and with its biosimilars. The website saying that is a CYA type of situation.

If you had no response at all to Humira, it's unlikely you'll have a good response to Remicade. They're both anti-TNFs, and your complete lack of response to Humira means you're probably a non-responder to that class of medications.

Of course, the only way to know is to try it, but your odds of success aren't good.

I'd suggest trying Xeljanz first.

OK, in that case, see if you can get approval for Stelara. It should be getting FDA approval for treatment of UC in the coming days/weeks/months.

(Side note: The blood clots scares/warnings with Xeljanz *might* be overblown if not outright false. Time will tell.)