Biosimilars

Biosimilar etanercept offered at 47% discount in Norway

Biosimilars/General | Posted 05/02/2016

Samsung Bioepis confirmed on 1 February 2016 that it had won a contract in Norway to supply its newly approved biosimilar etanercept, Benepali, to the country.

Positive phase III results for cetuximab and infliximab copy biologicals

Biosimilars/Research | Posted 05/02/2016

US-based biopharmaceutical company Sorrento Therapeutics (Sorrento) announced on 11 January 2016 that its partner, MabTech had successfully completed phase III clinical trials in China for STI-001, a copy biological for cetuximab (Erbitux) and STI‑002, a copy biological for infliximab (Remicade). Both STI-001 and STI-002 met their primary endpoints in confirmatory, randomized, controlled, two-part phase III studies.

Lack of health insurance limits access to biologicals in India

Biosimilars/Research | Posted 05/02/2016

One example of a negative driver of the ‘similar biologics’ market in India is the lack of health insurance in the country [1].

Australian approval for infertility biosimilar Bemfola

Biosimilars/News | Posted 05/02/2016

Switzerland-based Finox Biotech (Finox) announced on 30 November 2015 that it had gained approval from Australia’s drug regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), for follitropin alfa biosimilar Bemfola.

Prescribing similar biotherapeutic products in Latin America

Biosimilars/Research | Posted 29/01/2016

Prescribing practices vary across different countries in Latin America and reveal gaps in understanding and in the use of distinguishable names for biologicals [1].

Biosimilars applications under review by EMA – December 2015

Biosimilars/General | Posted 29/01/2016

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is the body responsible for approval of biosimilars within the European Union (EU). A legal framework for approving biosimilars was established in 2003. Approval of biosimilars is based on an abbreviated registration process, which allows biosimilars manufacturers to provide a reduced package of information compared to originator drugs, provided they can prove ‘similarity’ to the originator or reference drug.

Partnerships driving similar biologics development in India

Biosimilars/Research | Posted 29/01/2016

With biosimilars grabbing an increasing share of the global biologicals market and with India providing a cheaper place to carry out research and development, more international players are partnering with Indian companies.

Filgrastim follow-on biological approved in Brazil

Biosimilars/News | Posted 29/01/2016

Brazil’s medicines agency, the Brazilian Health Surveillance Agency (Agência Nacional de Vigilância Sanitária, ANVISA), announced on 20 October 2015 that it had approved the follow-on biological medicine Fiprima (filgrastim).

What happened in biosimilars during 2015

Biosimilars/General | Posted 22/01/2016

The past year has once again been a busy one for the biosimilars industry [1]. The most important milestone achieved during 2015 was the landmark decision made by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on 6 March 2015 to approve Sandoz’s filgrastim biosimilar, Zarxio (filgrastim-sndz), for all five indications of the originator product (Neupogen). FDA is also reviewing applications for epoetin alfa, infliximab, etanercept filgrastim and pegfilgrastim biosimilars.

Domestic biologicals cost less in India

Biosimilars/Research | Posted 22/01/2016

One of the factors increasing the use of similar biologics in India is the fact that domestic biologicals cost much less than the originator brand-name biologicals [1].