Respiratory

A phase 1 study testing Celltrion Healthcare’s omalizumab biosimilar in healthy subjects showed similar safety and pharmacokinetic profiles to the reference product (Xolair), as presented at the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology’s annual meeting.

Selexis and Generium launched an omalizumab biosimilar on the Russian market; Remsima sales hit a record high for Celltrion Healthcare; Xbrane Biopharma shares long-term results for its ranibizumab biosimilar.

Xolair, the only currently approved product containing omalizumab, was first approved in 2003. AVT23 is an investigational compound and has not received regulatory approval in any country. Current sales of Xolair are estimated at $3.3 billion.

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

With positive phase 1 study results and a manufacturing process that may cut costs significantly, BiosanaPharma hopes its omalizumab biosimilar candidate will have an edge on the worldwide market.

Republic of Korea–based drug maker Celltrion announced this week that it is launching its first clinical trial of CT-P39, a proposed biosimilar omalizumab referencing Xolair. The company says that it plans to enter phase 3 trials in the first half of 2020 and has plans to commercialize the biosimilar by 2022.

Biosana Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of BiosanaPharma BV, says it received permission from the Australian Bellberry Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) to start a phase 1 trial for a biosimilar version of omalizumab.

In October, the FDA granted approval for a pre-filled syringe formulation of the reference product. Additionally, Novartis is looking to expand omalizumab’s indications, as it recently earned FDA’s breakthrough therapy designation in August 2018 as a treatment for food allergies.

A little over a year after having received FDA authorization to commence its clinical program, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals has announced that its phase 1 study of GBR 310 revealed similar pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, safety, and immunogenicity profiles between its proposed omalizumab biosimilar and the reference product, Xolair.