News

Early dose reductions in the adjuvant chemotherapy combination of 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, and docetaxel negatively impacted survival rates for patients with intermediate- or high-risk breast cancer.

Administering the brand-name pegfilgrastim (Neulasta) via an on-body injection device (sold as Onpro) carries some risk of device failure, resulting in a missed or partial dose of pegfilgrastim. A recent cost simulation found that, when taking this failure into account, assured prophylaxis with biosimilar filgrastim offers the greatest cost efficiency.

A more compelling rationale for switching medications—particularly in light of “marginal” cost savings provided by biosimilars in the United States—is necessary, says the guideline.

The International Coalition of Medicines Regulatory Authorities, an executive-level coalition of regulators from 29 medicines regulatory authorities from territories including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, and the United States, among others, recently released a statement of confidence in biosimilars.

In 2018, Dr. Reddy’s indicated that it expected to initiate clinical studies for the bevacizumab biosimilar to facilitate EU and US regulatory approval, but this week, a company representative told The Center for Biosimilars® in an email that, “currently, we are gearing up for filings in emerging markets for Versavo.”

A new report from Matrix Global Advisors and the National Business Group on Health, sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim, shows that employers could see substantial savings from biosimilars, but those savings won’t come without a concerted effort to encourage biosimilar use.

“These results will fully usher the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia [CLL] into a new era,” said Tait Shanafelt, MD, professor of medicine at Stanford. “It seems likely that, in the future, these patients will be able to forego chemotherapy altogether.”

The study in patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) is the second of a pair of studies intended to facilitate regulatory submissions for the proposed biosimilar.

The Center for Biosimilars® recaps the top stories for the week of August 19, 2019.

When Samsung Bioepis’ trastuzumab biosimilar, SB3 (Ontruzant), gained regulatory approval in multiple highly regulated markets, it did so on the strength of a data package including evidence from a phase 3 study in patients with HER2-positive early breast cancer. Later, it became apparent that some of the patients who received the reference product in the phase 3 study had been exposed to lots of Herceptin with a marked shift in relative antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) activity.

A recent study suggests that adding rituximab to a high‐dose methotrexate‐based combination chemotherapy could prolong overall survival as well as progression-free survival for patients with primary central nervous system lymphoma, a rare and aggressive form of lymphoma.

Biocon has gained a certificate of good manufacturing practice (GMP) from the European Medicines Agency’s Irish inspection authority for its Malaysian manufacturing site where it produces its insulin glargine biosimilar, Semglee, referencing Lantus.

Along with innovations in design comes the question of patients’ willingness to pay for features that differentiate self-injection devices from one another.

A recent study found that rituximab maintenance therapy provides no additional benefit for patients with diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who are in complete remission after receiving rituximab plus cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) chemotherapy.

This week, researchers reported updated results from a post hoc subgroup analysis from the adjuvant period of treatment in the biosimilar’s phase 3 trial; these results, say the authors, demonstrate that the biosimilar, used in the adjuvant setting, has comparable efficacy and safety to the reference at 1 year.

Fewer than one-third of patients newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) used anti–tumor necrosis factors agents, other biologics, Janus kinase inhibitors, or conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs in 2014.

Hungary-based Gedeon Richter announced today that it has launched a biosimilar teriparatide, Terrosa, in Europe. The drug, referencing Eli Lilly’s Forsteo (sold as Forteo in the United States), is used to treat osteoporosis. The product will also be sold under the brand name Movimya by the company's partner, Stada.

While drug makers who sell insulin in the United States have had the past decade to prepare for the transition, stakeholders within the diabetes community must grapple with the potential impacts that this regulatory change could have.

In a one-page order filed last week, a panel of judges for the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied Genentech’s motion for an injunction that would have blocked Amgen from selling its biosimilar bevacizumab, Mvasi, pending the outcome of an appeal.

Researchers examining the mandatory switch of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from the originator etanercept (Enbrel) to the biosimilar etanercept (Benepali) found no changes in overall healthcare utilization or cost of healthcare following the switch.

Upadacitinib is expected to help AbbVie continue to lead in the immunology market after biosimilar competition emerges for adalimumab in 2023. The approval for the treatment of RA is one of 6 indications that AbbVie’s chief executive officer, Richard Gonzalez, said in a 2018 presentation that the company expects to have approved and launched by 2022.

Representative Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland, and Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, have sent letters to executives of 3 generic drug makers in which they ask for drug pricing information as part of a probe into the rising cost of generics.

With rising concern over rising drug prices, policymakers have sought a better understanding of the roles of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the drug supply chain and plans' and PBMs' efforts to manage Part D drug spending and use.

Samsung Bioepis has begun recruiting patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) in India for a phase 3 clinical study of its proposed eculizumab biosimilar, SB12, referencing Soliris.

The Center for Biosimilars® recaps the top stories for the week of August 12, 2019.

A recent study of a rapid point-of-care (POC) test shows that it is virtually identical at detecting antidrug antibodies (ADAs) to a biosimilar infliximab, SB2 (Renflexis, Flixabi), as a standard enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and is suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring of any infliximab product.

LG Chem’s biosimilar etanercept, LBEC0101, referencing Enbrel, recently gained approval in Japan and the Republic of Korea. Among the data that led to its authorization were those deriving from a phase 3 study that demonstrated the biosimilar had equivalent efficacy and a comparable safety profile to the reference product. Recently, researchers reported on a single-arm, open-label extension study in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who completed the 52-week phase 3 study.

In its August 2019 network bulletin, UnitedHealthcare indicated that, beginning October 1, 2019, biosimilar bevacizumab (Mvasi) and biosimilar trastuzumab (Kanjinti), both made by Amgen, will be preferred products for commercial and community plans.

Negotiations between Congress and the Trump administration over ratification and implementation of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA) have picked up speed in recent weeks. The USMCA was signed on November 30, 2018, ostensibly as a replacement for the original North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Bio-Thera Solutions, a global biotechnology company based in Guangzhou, China, says it began a phase 1 study of BAT2506, a proposed golimumab biosimilar referencing Simponi.