Iraq is one of many countries determined to increase its budget savings by replacing appropriate originator biologicals with off-patent biologicals. This is due to the recognition of the proven impact off-patent biologicals have on the financial burden of healthcare systems worldwide.
Once the efficiency of expenditure in the health sector is increased, healthcare services improve in any given country. Introducing generic and biosimilar medicines into the national formulary (NF) in order to provide safe, effective and more affordable treatments for patients decreases the financial burden for both patients and the government. By reducing the amount of money spent on originator biologicals, the Ministry of Health (MOH) can allocate a larger part of its healthcare budget to increasing access to medicines and practices such as building hospitals or providing more high-tech health products and services.