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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is months away from approving the first biosimilar drugs, but a bill advanced by a legislative committee Monday would help Utah prepare for that day.

House Health and Human Services Committee members signed off on HB 279, sponsored by Rep. Brad Dee, R-Washington Terrace. It now moves to the full House.

The bill would require pharmacies to notify physicians and other prescribers within five days of filling a prescription for a biologic drug with a biosimilar drug.

For patients with insurance, notification would be automatic because such information goes into big databases. For the 1 percent or so who pay for the pricey drugs with cash, the pharmacist would have to phone or send a fax or email to the prescriber.

Biological drugs have been around for decades — vaccines and insulin, for instance, are biological. But the term generally refers to a new kind of drug that's made using living cells. Arthritis drugs including Enbrel and Humira are examples of biologics.

Biosimilar drugs are the generic versions of the biologics, but do not match them as precisely as traditional (synthetic) generics match their counterparts.

Biosimilars, once they're on the market, are expected to save patients 20 to 25 percent of the cost of biologics, which can run in the tens of thousands of dollars each year.

Kristina Callis Duffin, an internist specializing in dermatology at the University of Utah, told the committee that physicians need to know precisely which drug a patient was given, particularly if something goes wrong.

While doctors ultimately have control — they can tell the pharmacist to fill the prescription as written — taking away the biosimilar option will cost patients more money, so doctors may not want to do that, Callis Duffin said.

The pharmaceutical industry is pushing similar legislation in 20 states this year, said Steve Marmaras, manager of state and national advocacy for the Global Healthy Living Foundation.

Utah pharmacists have not yet weighed in on the bill.

Rheumatoid arthritis patient Tabatha Yager of South Jordan put a human face on the subject Monday, telling lawmakers her experience of being unresponsive and rushed to an emergency room last summer after an adverse reaction to a new drug. If her doctor had not known what drug she was taking, Yager said, it would have been harder to treat her. She was representing the patient group Creaky Joints, which is part of the Global Healthy Living Foundation.

Twitter: @KristenMoulton