Development

Incremental gains in the number of approved biosimilars and no new biologic categories were the low points, but uptake and improved patient access were highlights of 2020.

The top stories in biosimilars for 2020 encompassed biosimilar approvals and launches, the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, and the FDA's challenge to stay on top of the rapidly changing health care landscape.

GP2 peptide/G-CSF in HER2-equivocal and -positive breast cancer has shown promise.

Plans for a $453.3 million high volume plant and research center were unveiled during an industry forum this week in Republic of Korea.

The FDA's acceptance of the biologics license application (BLA) moves the companies one step closer to entering the US ophthalmology treatment sphere with a biosimilar.

The reference product rights holder contends that Centus has not provided complete information about its manufacturing processes related to FKB238, the proposed biosimilar.

The survival of the biosimilars approval pathway seemed on surer footing today following oral arguments at the Supreme Court over the Affordable Care Act and the severability of its provisions.

Sarah Yim, MD, director of the Office of Therapeutic Biologics and Biosimilars (OTBB), highlighted the ways the FDA is working to remove blocks and wedges hindering biosimilars.

The company has multiple biosimilar products on the worldwide market and in development; in 2019, it gained World Health Organization precertification for a trastuzumab biosimilar (Ontruzant).

Biosimilar orphan drugs might not be cheaper than innovator orphan products, owing to multiple factors, but modifications to regulatory policy could change this, a presenter said at the Terrapinn Festival of Biologics Basel 2020.

Manufacturers, not regulators, may be the holdouts when it comes to eliminating comparative clinical efficacy trials, according to experts interviewed by The Center for Biosimilars®.

The FDA may require comparative clinical efficacy for biosimilar approval, but on top of all the other required and available evidence, these trials add little value, Sarfaraz K. Niazi, PhD, states.

A collaboration with the FDA could lead to new forms of pharmacodymamic measurement that improve speed and efficiency of biosimilar development and approval.

Amgen said its sales results for Mvasi (bevacizumab) and Kanjinti (trastuzumab) give it confidence that the US market for biosimilars is more viable than generally perceived.

With a sizeable round of fresh capital, Alvotech hopes to bring monoclonal antibodies and fusion proteins through the development pipeline.

Shanghai Henlius Biotech will share development and distribution of its bevacizumab biosimilar candidate HLX04 with Zhuhai Essex and Essex Bio-Investment.

Demonstrated biosimilarity across clinical parameters puts this drug among NeuClone's leading product candidates.

Investigators note similar efficacy and safety profiles in real-life study of reference and biosimilar forms of rituximab.

Reviewers found that costs of reference infliximab and its biosimilars make it the most cost-effective therapy for ulcerative colitis (UC) among targeted immune modulators.

DaxibotulinumtoxinA met all end points in a study demonstrating longer duration of action, safety, and tolerability.

Alexion and Celltrion separately announce advances in their drug development and marketing efforts.

Years ahead of patent expirations for programmed death-1 (PD-1) inhibitors, biosimilar companies have begun focusing on these targeted drugs.

The US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) contends AbbVie's patent thicket for Humira (adalimumab) will encourage anticompetitive practices by other manufacturers.

The product would target the lucrative, billion-dollar worldwide market for Xolair.

A report from the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science states that assessments of the health of the US biosimilar market are too conservative.

The agreement enables Reliance Life Sciences to springboard into the US market using Medicure's commercial reach.

The Federal Trade Commission's powers to bring antitrust actions are circumscribed by public versus private and what is vs isn't "reasonable," Markus H. Meier explained.

California has become the first state to implement a policy to produce and distribute its own drug products to help lower costs.

Trial results demonstrated that Innovent Biologics’ bevacizumab biosimilar was effective in combination therapy with a PD-1 inhibitor in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

A secretive biosimilars company notches yet another co-licensing deal but withholds full details.