Regulatory

A study assessing the impact of mandatory switching policies in British Columbia on patients with rheumatic conditions receiving infliximab therapy found that switching to a biosimilar did not result in increased health service use.

The European Committee for Medicinal Products (CHMP) rejects Prestige Biopharma’s biosimilar referencing Herceptin; Prime Therapeutics’ plan to leverage biosimilars resulted in savings for patients; Samsung Biologics and AstraZeneca liquidated their joint venture (Archigen Biotech).

Viatris and Biocon Biologics announced the launch of their bevacizumab product, Abevmy, a biosimilar to Avastin, on the Canadian market.

The United Kingdom has approved Teva Pharmaceutical’s biosimilar (Ongavia) that references Lucentis (ranibizumab) for the treatment of several ophthalmic conditions.

Julie M. Reed, the executive director of the Biosimilars Forum, discusses how biosimilar savings can differ between stakeholders and the importance of competition for creating those savings.

A new bill that would amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act aims to expand FDA user fee programs for prescription drugs and medical devices, including biosimilars and generics.

Stacie B. Dusetzina, PhD, is the Ingram Associate Professor of Cancer Research at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and a member of the editorial board for The American Journal of Managed Care®.

The main takeaway from the House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on HHS's 2023 budget was that biosimilars were not mentioned as much as they should have been, said Julie M. Reed of the Biosimilars Forum.

The United States is about to enter round 2 of biosimilar activity with a pipeline that expands biosimilars into new therapeutic areas, said Sonia Oskouei, PharmD, BCMAS, DPLA, vice president of biosimilars, Cardinal Health, during her presentation at Asembia’s Specialty Pharmacy Summit.

Eric Tichy, PharmD, MBA, vice chair of pharmacy formulary at the Mayo Clinic Health System, discusses the importance of state legislation to boost biosimilar access and uptake.

Now that the United States’ acceptance of biosimilars matches that in the European Union, developers should be encouraging changes to testing regulations to increase biosimilar accessibility, according to Sarfaraz K. Niazi, PhD, in his recent perspective paper.

Biosimilars provide significant savings and encourages competition in the biopharmaceutical marketplace but the United States needs to do more to empower uptake and address adoption barriers, according to Robert Popovian PharmD, MS.

Medicare Part D plans missed out on between $84 million and $143 million in savings by not prioritizing the use of biosimilars over reference products, according to a report from the HHS Office of Inspector General.

Republic of Korea-based Celltrion Healthcare launched its high-concentration adalimumab biosimilar in Canada and won several Brazilian tenders to supply its infliximab biosimilar.

The executive director of the Biosimilars Forum calls for policies to support adoption of lower-cost biologics.

An article reviewed the totality of evidence leading to the approval of Amgen’s infliximab biosimilar ABP 710 (Avsola), which is currently approved in the US and Canada for all the indications of the originator (Remicade).

Jeffrey Casberg, vice president of pharmacy at IPD Analytics, previews his sessions about the new and emerging pharmaceutical products coming down the pipeline at the upcoming Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) annual meeting.

Since the start of 2022, China’s National Medicinal Products Administration (NMPA) has made strides to increase access to biosimilar products for various rheumatic conditions, including 3 biosimilar approvals and 1 biosimilar receiving an expanded indication.

As HHS prepares to begin a study that will summarize the use and spending of biosimilars within Medicare Part B plans, the FDA updates its clinical trial guidance to expand enrollment access to senior patients.

Gillian Woollett, MA, Dphil, vice president and head of regulatory strategy and policy at Samsung Bioepis, reviews some of the presentations, including her own, from the Festival of Biologics conference.

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended 2 insulin biosimilars for marketing authorization in Europe.

Canada’s regulatory agency approved Samsung Bioepis’ Byooviz as the first ranibizumab biosimilar for the Canadian market for the treatment of ophthalmic conditions.

Shanghai Henlius Biotech announced a commercialization agreement with Getz Pharma Limited for an adalimumab biosimilar for various African and Asian countries.

Releuko, a filgrastim biosimilar developed by Kashiv Biosciences and Amneal Pharmaceuticals, has received FDA approval, the first of 2022.

February kicked off with a number of regulatory updates from around the world, including the FDA acceptance of applications for interchangeable adalimumab biosimilars, Health Canada’s approval of Ontruzant, and more.

The FDA has accepted biologics license applications (BLAs) for interchangeability status from Alvotech and Pfizer regarding their respective adalimumab biosimilars referencing Humira.

Switching patients with Crohn disease from reference adalimumab to SB5, a Samsung Bioepis biosimilar, did not lead to major changes in disease activity in a real-world analysis.

There remains risk in the US market due to regulatory and legal hurdles—not to mention a combative political environment, according to executives who gathered last week during the “CEOs Unplugged” session at Access! 2022, held by the Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) in Orlando.

Purva Rawal, PhD, senior advisor and chief strategy officer, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, spoke during the Association for Accessible Medicines' Access! annual meeting, which gathered in Orlando, Florida, February 15-16.

A panel of experts details the current concerns regarding interchangeability designations for biosimilars in the United States and calls for regulators and policy makers to make changes to allow to easier access to biosimilars and greater adoption.