Last week, both Wisconsin and West Virginia passed legislation intended to facilitate the dispensing and substitution of biosimilar products.  Wisconsin and West Virginia join Michigan, which enacted House Bill 4472 on February 28, as the latest states to approve biosimilar access bills.

On Wednesday, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker signed Senate Bill 575 into law as Act 149.  The Act allows for pharmacists to dispense interchangeable versions of a biologic product under certain circumstances, and if dispensed, defines how the interchangeable product can be labeled and recorded.

In West Virginia, Governor Justice approved House Bill 4524, which also establishes guidelines for biosimilar substitution.  The legislation goes into effect June 8, 2018.

With the passage of this legislation in Wisconsin and West Virginia, forty states now have biosimilar substitution bills.