On July 29, 2021, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) released a statement urging the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to prohibit Insurance companies from requiring ophthalmologists to use new biosimilar drugs as alternatives to Avastin for treatment in eye diseases. The statement alleges that certain large healthcare…
It has been reported that U.S. pharmacy benefit manager CVS will drop Sanofi’s insulin drugs, Lantus® (insulin glargine injection, 100 units/ml) and Toujeo® (insulin glargine injection, 300 units/ml) from the list of medications for which it reimburses on behalf of health insurers. In July CVS caremark® published a list of…
Last week, FDA announced the Biosimilar User Fee Act (BsUFA) rates for the 2022 fiscal year, which runs from October 1, 2021 through September 30, 2022. The FDA determined these rates pursuant to the Food and Drug Administration Reauthorization Act (FDARA), which was signed into law on August 18, 2017….
On July 13, 2021, the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel met to discuss biologic and biosimilar competition and its impact on drug prices. A group of senators, led by Senator Amy Klobuchar, are sponsors of a Senate bill which aims to prohibit biological product manufacturers from compensating biosimilar and interchangeable…
On July 20, 2021, after nearly four years of litigation, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Pfizer have agreed to dismiss all claims asserted in the antitrust suit brought by Pfizer in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania regarding Remicade (infliximab). Remicade is an immunosuppressant that is used to treat Crohn’s disease,…
As we previously reported, Judge Connolly of the District of Delaware stayed the dispute between Amgen and Hospira last month, pending a determination on whether the Court should entertain summary judgment practice on the issue of noninfringement. Last week, the parties submitted a joint letter to the Court on the…
Last week, Bio-Thera Solutions announced that a first patient has been dosed in its Phase III clinical trial study for ustekinumab biosimilar BAT2206. Stelara® (ustekinumab) is marketed by Johnson & Johnson Corp. for the treatment of moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, active psoriatic arthritis, moderate to severe active Crohn’s disease…
As we previously reported, the “Consolidated Appropriations Act” enacted in December of last year contained a provision that required FDA to create a searchable, electronic database of biologics and to update it with patent information provided to an applicant during the patent dance. As of the effective date of June…
On July 9, President Biden issued an Executive Order regarding competition in various sectors of the United States economy, including the healthcare market. Among the 72 initiatives set forth in the Order are instructions that charge various agencies with tasks to promote generic and biosimilar competition. The Order directs the Food…
On July 6, 2021 Alvotech announced the start of a comparative, confirmatory efficacy and safety clinical study comparing AVT04, Alvotech’s proposed ustekinumab biosimilar, to the reference product STELARA, in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. The announcement states that the study is being conducted in five countries in Central and…