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MONTREAL — A wave of new pharmaceutical products called biosimilars is on the cusp of breaking through next year in Canada and it could translate into billions of dollars in savings for the health-care system while potentially eating into current drugmaker revenues as well.

Biosimilars — also called subsequent entry biologics — have only been around for a few years in Canada, since Sandoz Canada’s Omnitrope growth hormone therapy was first approved in 2009.

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They can be thought of as the generics of the biological drug space, but unlike the so-called small-molecule products that are exact copies of other treatments, biosimilars, as the name suggests, can have some variations, as long as they produce the same results as the originator.

Such drugs should help lower health-care costs, but they may also have a negative impact on established drug company earnings if they cut into profits, although the biggest brand name drugmakers are entering the space. Merck & Co. Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Amgen Inc. are all developing products that mimic existing biologics with expired patents.