On September 25, 2018, the House of Representative passed the “Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act” (S.2554). As we previously reported, the Senate passed the bill on September 19, 2018. The bill includes amendments to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (“MMA”) that require patent…
The Association for Accessible Medicines (AAM) and Biosimilars Council submitted comments to FDA two weeks ago regarding “the biosimilars action plan and ways to facilitate competition” in the biosimilars industry. Collectively referred to in the comments as AAM, and the “sole association representing America’s generic pharmaceutical sector in the United States,”…
In August, we reported that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended the granting of marketing authorization for three biosimilar medicines: (1) Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics (FKB) and Mylan’s Hulio® (adalimumab), a proposed biosimilar of Humira®; (2) Accord Healthcare’s Pelgraz® (pegfilgrastim),…
Last week, FDA published its draft guidance on civil money penalties relating to the ClinicalTrials.gov data bank to the federal register. The guidance addresses how the FDA Centers (CDER, CBER, and CDRH, for drug, biological, and device products, respectively) identify whether parties have failed to submit required clinical trial registrations, results,…
As we previously reported, Pfizer filed a petition for IPR of certain claims of Hoffman-La Roche’s U.S. Patent No. 8,314,225 (IPR2018-01219). According to the petition, the challenged claims “purport to claim nucleic acid sequences that encode the C-terminal part of a human immunoglobulin heavy chain and a method for improving the expression…
We previously reported on discovery disputes in the adalimumab litigation between AbbVie and Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) pending before the District of Delaware. Earlier this month, Judge Lloret issued an order on additional discovery motions filed by the parties. Taking into account standards under the Federal Rules, “that the amount in controversy…
Yesterday, the Senate overwhelmingly (98-2) passed the “Patient Right to Know Drug Prices Act” (S.2554), which includes amendments to the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (“MMA”) that require patent litigation settlements between a Reference Product Sponsor and a biosimilar applicant under section 351(k) to be submitted…
In a complaint filed yesterday, the State of California sued AbbVie, Inc. based on an alleged kickback scheme in connection with AbbVie’s Humira® (adalimumab). The complaint alleges that AbbVie violated the Insurance Frauds Prevention Act (“IFPA”) by providing kickbacks to health providers throughout California. Specifically, AbbVie allegedly indirectly paid healthcare…
On September 12, 2018, Boehringer Ingelheim announced positive results from a Phase III clinical trial for its approved adalimumab biosimilar, Cyltezo®. The clinical trial compared the efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of Cyltezo® and Humira® in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis. According to Boehringer Ingelheim, the study confirmed equivalence of Cyltezo®…
As we have previously reported, a jury in September 2017 issued a $70,000,000 verdict against Hospira based on its drug substance manufacturing activity in 2013-2015 in connection with its biosimilar of Amgen’s Epogen® (epoetin alfa). The parties then engaged in post-trial motion practice, seeking to overturn various portions of the…