Last week, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (“Board”) denied institution of four IPR petitions on biologics-related patents. First, the Board denied institution of IPR2017-01987 and IPR2017-01988, both filed by Sandoz Inc. These IPRs sought to challenge U.S. Patent Nos. 8,911,737 and 8,974,790, respectively, both owned by AbbVie Biotechnology Ltd., and…
We previously reported on the announced agreement to enter into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). As previously announced, the final version of the CPTPP suspended all of the biologics provisions (Article 18.51) that appeared in the TPP. According to past reports, the biologics provisions were heavily…
Yesterday, Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) announced the introduction of proposed legislation, Preserving Access to Cost Effective Drugs Act, which would permit the Patent and Trademark Office and the International Trade Commission to review patents regardless of any claim of tribal sovereign immunity made as part of sham transactions. The announcement explained…
Earlier today, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, gave a speech focusing on biosimilars at America’s Health Insurance Plans’ National Health Policy Conference in Washington, D.C. In his speech, Commissioner Gottlieb highlighted a 2017 study by QuintilesIMS that observed significant cost savings and dramatically expanding patient access in the EU from biosimilars…
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…
South Dakota passed a law that allows pharmacists to automatically substitute a biosimilar for a prescribed biological product. According to the new law, which was signed by South Dakota’s governor on February 12, 2018, the biosimilar must be “interchangeable” with the prescribed biological product under 42 U.S.C. § 262(k)(4) to qualify…
As we’ve reported on previously, Allergan, Inc. assigned its rights to patents covering its Restasis® dry eye treatment to the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe (“Tribe”) and simultaneously licensed back those patents in exchange for the Tribe’s agreement to invoke tribal sovereign immunity in inter partes review (IPR) proceedings before the…
On February 21, 2018, Biocon reported that the FDA issued a Form 483 with six observations after the FDA completed a pre-approval inspection of the facility where Biocon plans to manufacture, in collaboration with Mylan, its follow-on insulin version of Lantus. Biocon indicated that it intends to respond to the FDA in…
JHL Biotech Inc. announced last week that it received approval from the Bulgarian Drug Agency for a Phase I clinical trial of its proposed bevacizumab (Avastin) biosimilar, JHL1149. The trial, set to begin in March 2018, will consist of a three-arm pharmacokinetic study in healthy volunteers. The data acquired from…