new, biosimilars?what are they exactly? >> if we think about a drug, a drug is made with chemicals. a biologic comes from a living cell, a protein, a tissue. you can imagine the complexity, the molecular structure of a biologic is just that, way more complicated than that of, say, aspirin or tablet or capsule. as we think about biologics or typical injectable drugs, they're obviously difficult to replicate. biologics have been around for quite a while. the fda has continued to work with industry to how can we have the rigor around making sure we can bring affordable alternative options to biologics, those are by a similars. dr. gottlieb has spoke ben how much they're -- spoken about how much they're needed and will relieve the burden on the health care system. >> usually when you talk about reduction of burden, people talk about generics. what's the difference, first of all? second of all, how much of a cost reduction are we talking about here? big savings? can you give a percentage or numbers? >> sure

in the case of remicade, this is a biosimilar. it is not a generic.t is not the exact same product. we worked in this category for a long time. we think relatively minor differences in this protein can manifest themselves clinically with patients and have important differences. so, and we also know that, in addition to the clinical profile, that we are competing with customers as well, so we think remicade remains a really important treatment option for patients. i mean, would they want to be treated, if they are on stable therapy, perhaps already been challenged by switching from other therapies before? and again, we think it is an important option for patients and for physicians. david: one last thing, and that is opioids. there was a time that johnson & johnson sold them -- no longer, you don't do opioids -- but as a societal issue at this point, at what point do opioids, with all the benefits they offer for pain relief, become thalidomides --and say, you know what, the damage to society overall is too great. we are going to have to find a differen

in the case of remicade it is a biosimilar. it's not a generic.e have worked in this category for a long time, and we think relatively minor differences in the proteins can manifest quickly in patients with important differences. in addition to the clinical profile we are competing with customers as well. remicade remains a really important treatment option for patients. would they want to be treated if they are on stable therapy and challenged by switching from other therapies and we think it is an important option for patients and physicians. david: opioids. there was a time you sold them. no longer. but as a societal issue at this point, at what point the opioids with all the benefits they offer relief become -- and say the damage is too great and we will have to find a different way to relieve pain? alex: it is an important issue and where we will have to work one together to solve. it is important to remember the treatment of pain is a very important component to overall care. so what is critical is that we put together new rules and regulati

remicaid it is a biosimilar. we have worked in this category a long time and relatively minor proteins can the achine -- manifest clinically in patients with important differences. in addition to the clinical with e we are competing customers as well so we think it emains a really important treatment option for patients. would they want to be treated if stable therapy and challenged by switching from other therapies and we think it important option for patients and physicians. >> opioids. there was a time you sold them. no longer. but as a societal issue at this at what point do opioids offerll the benefits they for pain relief say the damage and we will have to find a different way to relieve pain? and is an important issue where we will have to work together to solve. it is important to remember the is a very f pain important component to overall care. that we s critical is put together new rules and guidelines to ensure ultimately patients get the treatment they need and also putting a construct in place to ma

what is important is that a generic is different than a biosimilar. i will be the first to say generics are good for the industry. you might find that interesting for somebody in pharma to make that statement but without that release valve, there's no way we can continue to provide a reward for long-term innovation in the industry. in the case of remicade it is a biosimilar. it's not a generic. it is not the exact same product. we have worked in this category for a long time, and we think relatively minor differences in the proteins can manifest clinically with patients and have important differences. with also know that in addition to the clinical profile, we are competing with customers as well. we think remicade remains a really important treatment option for patients. would they want to be treated if they are on stable therapy and have been challenged by switching from other therapies and we think it is an important option for patients and physicians. david: one last thing on this, and that is opioids. there was a time you sold them. no longer. bu