AbbVie recently announced positive results for upadacitinib, a small molecule Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitor, in a phase 3 clinical trial of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). According to AbbVie, upadacitinib met all primary and secondary endpoints in the study, including superiority versus adalimumab, the anti-TNFα antibody that Abbvie markets as…
Last week, Japan-based Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical Co. announced the completion of a biologics production facility in Osong, South Korea by its Korean affiliate Aprogen Biologics “[t]o provide a stable supply of premium quality biosimilars to market in the USA as well as Japan.” The facility will reportedly use a perfusion system…
This morning, the United States Supreme Court issued two key decisions concerning the fundamental authority of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to institute inter partes review (IPR) proceedings. First, in Oil State Energy Services, LLC v. Greene’s Energy Group, LLC, the Court held in a seven to two…
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…
Pegfilgrastim litigation We had previously covered Judge Stark’s grant of Coherus’s motion to dismiss Amgen’s complaint alleging infringement of the ‘707 patent in Amgen v. Coherus. Today, Judge Stark entered judgment against Amgen and dismissed the case. In the Amgen v. Mylan litigation earlier covered here, Mylan recently filed a…
Last week, Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics (FKB) and Mylan announced that they will partner with one another to commercialize in Europe FKB327, a biosimilar of adalimumab developed by FKB. As we previously reported, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) accepted FKB’s Marketing Authorization Application for review on May 18, 2017 and the companies expect to get a decision from EMA by the second half of this year. Under the agreement, FKB grants Mylan…
Pursuant to the five year reauthorization of FDA’s user fee programs for prescription drugs, generic drugs, and biosimilars, FDA recently released its five-year financial plans (2018-2022) for the programs. The plans “communicate the anticipated financial positions of the Biosimilar User Fee Amendments of 2017 (BsUFA II), the Generic Drug User…
Last week, in the ongoing Janssen v. Celltrion litigation concerning Celltrion’s Inflectra®, a biosimilar of Janssen’s Remicade® (infliximab), Judge Wolf of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts granted Defendants’ unopposed motion for leave to file a motion for summary judgment and accompanying briefing schedule. In their summary judgment brief, filed on…
Last week, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) instituted inter partes review of two patents directed to methods of administering adalimumab for the treatment of psoriasis, based on petitions filed by Sandoz: IPR2017-02105 (challenging U.S. Pat. No. 9,090,689) and IPR2017-02106 (challenging U.S. Pat. No. 9,067,992). Separately, the Board issued…
USP stated last week that it will not develop new product-specific monographs for biologics without stakeholder consensus in supporting their creation, including the support of FDA. USP had proposed revisions for these monographs in which “the official title shall be the title specified in the relevant monograph plus any suffix…