Below is a rundown of some recent developments in BPCIA litigations concerning biosimilars of Genentech’s Herceptin® (trasuzumab), Rituxan® (rituximab), and Avastin® (bevacizumab). Celltrion v. Genentech (trastuzumab) and Celltrion v. Genentech (rituximab) As we previously reported, on January 11, 2018, Celltrion and Teva filed two lawsuits against Genentech in the District…
Over the past few weeks, numerous biologics and biosimilar companies released their quarterly earnings for Q1 2018 and held related earnings calls. Below are some highlights: On April 17, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) reported a 22.5% year-over-year (YOY) decline in U.S. sales of Remicade® (infliximab), which it attributed “to increased discounts/rebates,…
Today, Pfizer announced that it received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the FDA in response to Pfizer’s application for its proposed biosimilar of Herceptin® (trastuzumab). According to Pfizer’s press release, the CRL “highlighted the need for additional technical information,” but the “requested information does not relate to safety or…
Last week the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (“CHMP”) of the European Medicines Agency (“EMA”) recommended two biosimilar medicines for approval. First, the CHMP adopted a positive opinion for the marketing authorization of Kanjinti® (ABP 980), Amgen and Allergan’s proposed biosimilar to Herceptin® (trastuzumab). The CHMP opinion recommends…
Below is our first quarter update on the U.S. patent litigations concerning proposed or approved biosimilar products. For additional details, please consult our previous quarterly updates (Q3 2016, Q4 2016, Q1 2017, Q2 2017, Q3 2017, Q4 2017).
Last week it was reported (here and here) that Merck launched Samsung Bioepis’ Ontruzant® in the United Kingdom, the first biosimilar trastuzumab launched in Europe. Ontruzant® is a biosimilar of Roche’s Herceptin® and is approved to treat early breast cancer, metastatic breast cancer and metastatic gastric cancer. This launch follows…
Last month, the PTAB issued decisions on two petitions, IPR2017-02063 and IPR2018-00016, filed by Pfizer against one of Genentech’s Herceptin® (trastuzumab) patents, U.S. Patent No. 7,846,441 (“the ‘441 patent”). The ‘441 patent has claims directed to methods of treating a malignant progressing tumor or cancer characterized by overexpression of ERBB2 receptor. IPR2017-02063…
Sources are reporting that Korean pharmaceutical company Daewoong Pharmaceutical announced today that it has launched Samfenet, a biosimilar to Roche’s HERCEPTIN® (trastuzumab), in Korea. Samfenet is priced at a 29.5-percent discount to Herceptin, which amassed around $6.5 billion in global revenue last year. Mylan announced last week that it has…
The Journal of Clinical Oncology reported that Merck and Samsung Bioepis’ biosimilar to trastuzumab (Herceptin®), SB3, demonstrated equivalence to trastuzumab in recent Phase III trials. According to the report, in a phase III, randomized, double-blind study of 800 women with HER2-positive breast cancer, SB3 induced a rate of breast pathologic complete…
Below is a roundup of several recently published comparative studies between biosimilars and reference biologics. In a study presented at the American Society of Hematology’s 59th Annual meeting, the authors concluded that there were no clinically meaningful differences in the safety profile of Cinfa Biotech’s B12019 biosimilar to Neulasta® (pegfilgrastim) compared with…