On Monday April 17, 2023, Celltrion announced that it has launched VEGZELMA (bevacizumab-adcd, an AVASTIN biosimilar) in the United States for the treatment of several cancers, including metastatic colorectal cancer and breast cancer. As we previously reported, VEGZELMA was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in September 2022 for use alone or in combination with other agents for treatment of metastatic colorectal cancer, non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, glioblastoma, metastatic renal cell carcinoma, cervical cancer, and epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer. VEGZELMA has also been approved and/or launched in several other countries including Canada, Japan, and Europe. Celltrion said that it will begin shipments to wholesalers this week and that VEGZELMA has been added to the Medicare reimbursement list.
Celltrion’s VEGZELMA is the fourth AVASTIN (bevacizumab) biosimilar to be launched in the United States, following Amgen’s MVASI in July 2019, Pfizer’s ZIRABEV in December 2019, and Amneal’s ALYMSYS in October 2022.
Celltrion has previously partnered with other companies to market its biosimilar products in the United States. Celltrion reports that VEGZELMA is the first drug for which Celltrion takes full responsibility in U.S. marketing as part of its plans to strengthen its presence in the U.S. pharmaceutical market.