On August 8, Sanofi-Aventis filed a complaint for patent infringement against Merck Sharp & Dohme in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey regarding Merck’s proposed follow-on biologics of Sanofi-Aventis’s Lantus® and Lantus® SoloSTAR® ([rDNA origin] insulin glargine) subcutaneous injection vial products. The complaint alleges infringement of two patents: U.S….
Coherus Biosciences filed a petition at the US Patent and Trademark Office last week, seeking to cancel the claims of U.S. Patent 8,163,522 (the ’522 patent), entitled “Human TNF Receptor,” and assigned on its face to Hoffman-LaRoche Inc. According to a Coherus press release, the ’522 patent is controlled by…
Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon, recently stated that Biocon is developing a portfolio of 10 biosimilars, and will continue to invest 12-15% of its revenue in research and development. According to Ms. Mazumdar-Shaw, Biocon’s biosimilars span insulin, monoclonal antibodies, and other recombinant proteins for markets in India and…
Today, the Federal Circuit dismissed Amgen’s appeal from and mandamus petition regarding the U.S. District Court for the Delaware’s order denying Amgen’s motion to compel discovery for lack of jurisdiction under the collateral order doctrine. Amgen sought to compel discovery from Hospira regarding two patents that Amgen had not included in its…
On July 31, Express Scripts identified new formulary exclusions that will go into effect on January 1, 2018. For example, Amgen’s rG-CSF product, NEUPOGEN, will be excluded in favor of Teva’s rG-CSF product, GRANIX, and Sandoz’s biosimilar, ZARXIO. Express Scripts has not explained, however, what the reimbursement level will be…
Coherus announced completion of initial phases of the Biologic Price Competition and Innovation Act patent exchange with Amgen for its pegfilgrastim biosimilar candidate CHS-1701. Coherus reported that it has received a complete response letter from FDA for CHS-1701’s biologic license application (BLA) and it anticipates resubmitting the BLA in the…
In response to Coherus’s motion to stay discovery in Amgen v. Coherus, Amgen filed an answering brief yesterday opposing this motion. Amgen claimed that any delay in the proceedings would “unduly prejudice Amgen and present a clear tactical advantage to Coherus by impeding Amgen’s ability to enforce its patent rights…
Below are some highlights from second quarter earnings reports recently released by biologics and biosimilar companies. Coherus reported that it has cash and cash equivalents of $118.3 million as of June 30, 2017 and that its total revenue for the first half of 2017 was $1.6 million. In response to a question…
In its Q2 2017 Earnings Call last week, Momenta reported that it continues to work towards a first submission for approval of its wholly owned HUMIRA biosimilar, M923, with a possible commercial launch by 2020. Momenta also reported that it is looking for potential collaborators as it further develops M923. In…
Yesterday during Regeneron Pharmaceutical’s Q2 earnings call, Regeneron announced that its Antibody Discovery Agreement with Sanofi will be ending on December 31, 2017 without an extension. Regeneron’s President and Chief Scientific Officer, George D. Yancopoulos, stated that Regeneron and Sanofi will continue their collaboration with respect to drugs discovered and initially developed under…