Celltrion announced last week that its Biologics License Application (“BLA”) for CT-P10, a biosimilar to Biogen and Genentech’s Rituxan® (rituximab), has been accepted for review by the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”).  The FDA is expected to act on the application in the first quarter of 2018.

Rituximab is an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody approved for

On June 19, 2017, the European Commission (EC) approved Sandoz’s Rixathon® (rituximab), a biosimilar to Roche/Genentech’s Rituxan®/Mabthera®.  The approval follows the positive recommendation by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (“CHMP”) issued two months ago.

Rituximab is an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody approved for the treatment of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (follicular lymphoma and diffuse large

We previously reported that after a public meeting held on May 25, 2017, the FDA’s Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommended Pfizer’s proposed biosimilar to Amgen’s Epogen®/Procrit® for approval across all indications.  The ODAC committee voted 14-1 in favor of approval of Pfizer’s application.

Surprisingly, however, the FDA did not approve the application as expected. 

The Biosimilar User Fee Act (“BsUFA”) was originally enacted in 2012, and the current legislative authority is set to expire at the end of September 2017.  Under BsUFA, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) is authorized to collect fees directly from biosimilar drug product applicants, and the fees are dedicated to expediting the approval

On June 22, 2017, the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (“CHMP”) of the European Medicine’s Agency (“EMA”) recommended Samsung Bioepis’ Imraldi® (SB-5, adalimumab), a biosimilar to AbbVie’s Humira®, for approval.  The CHMP’s recommendation will be referred to the European Commission for final marketing authorization.

Adalimumab is a TNF (tumor necrosis factor) inhibitor

Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics announced that its Medical Marketing Application (“MMA”) for FKB327, a biosimilar to AbbVie’s Humira® (adalimumab), has been accepted for review by the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”).  Adalimumab is a TNF (tumor necrosis factor) inhibitor that binds to TNF-alpha (TNF-α), preventing it from activating TNF receptors, which cause the inflammatory reactions associated

The FDA announced yesterday that the Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee (“ODAC”) has scheduled a public meeting to review ABP 215, Amgen’s proposed biosimilar to Genentech’s Avastin (bevacizumab), on July 13, 2017.  According to the announcement, the proposed indications and uses for ABP 215 include:

  1. first- or second-line treatment of patients with metastatic carcinoma of the

Pfizer announced last week that the FDA’s Oncologic Drug Advisory Committee (ODAC) recommended its proposed biosimilar to Amgen’s Epogen®/Procrit® for approval across all indications after a public meeting held on May 25, 2017.  The meeting materials are available from the FDA’s website here.

The history of this application is interesting.  The original biologics application

Celltrion announced last week that it has submitted an application for approval of Herzuma, its proposed trastuzumab biosimilar (CT-P6), in Japan.  Trastuzumab is a monoclonal antibody indicated for the treatment of patients with metastactic breast cancer whose tumors overexpress the HER2 protein and who have received one or more chemotherapy regimens.  Celltrion’s Herzuma (trastuzumab) is

FDA approved Samsung Bioepis’s Renflexis® (SB2, infliximab-abda) on Friday, April 21, 2017.  Renflexis® is the fifth biosimilar approved by the FDA and the second infliximab biosimilar to Janssen’s Remicade®.  Infliximab is an Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor (Anti-TNF) monoclonal antibody approved in the U.S. for treating rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and