On October 19, Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics (a joint venture between Fujifilm and Kyowa Hakko Kirin), announced successful results in the global Phase 3 study of its Humira® (adalimumab) biosimilar candidate, FKB327. According to the press release, the study showed that FKB327 and Humira® performed equivalently at improving the disease activity of…
Earlier this week, we reported on the amicus curiae brief filed by the Biosimilars Council in support of Apotex’s petition in Amgen v. Apotex. Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. has also filed an amicus brief in support of Apotex. Mylan’s brief can be found here.
A study conducted by the Norwegian government compared Johnson & Johnson’s Remicade (infliximab) to Celltrion’s approved biosimilar Remsima. The “NOR-SWITCH” study, which cost $2.5 million, was a 52-week Phase IV study that began in October 2014. The results were presented on Tuesday during the United European Gastroenterology Week in Vienna, Austria. The…
On October 17, the PTAB denied institution of IPR2016-000912, IPR2016-00915, IPR2016-00916. The Petitions in these cases were filed by Swiss Pharma International AG on U.S. Patent Nos. 8,815,236; 8,349,321; and 8,900,577, respectively, all owned by Biogen. The patents all relate to compositions of natalizumab, marketed by Biogen under the brand-name…
The Economic Times of India has reported on a study of the Indian biosimilars market conducted by the Jawaharlal Nehru Institute of Advanced Studies (JNIAS). The study reports that the Indian biosimilars industry was close to $300 million in 2015, with domestic sales accounting for $250 million growing at a…
As we covered in a previous post, Apotex has filed a cert. petition asking the Supreme Court to review the Federal Circuit’s ruling on the BPCIA’s notice provision in Amgen v. Apotex. Last week, the Biosimilars Council filed an amicus brief in support of Apotex’s petition. The brief is available here….
As we previously reported, Celltrion has moved to dismiss Janssen’s claim of infringement of the ’083 patent, the sole remaining patent in the case since the district court entered partial final judgment with respect to the ’471 patent. On October 7, 2016, Judge Wolf issued an order instructing the parties,…
Pfizer announced today that it will begin shipping INFLECTRA® (infliximab-dyyb) for injection, a biosimilar of REMICADE® (infliximab), to wholesalers in the United States (U.S.) in late November 2016. INFLECTRA® received FDA approval this past April for the treatment of inflammatory conditions including Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, and rheumatoid arthritis. According…
As we previously reported, Amgen has sought to amend its complaint regarding Hospira’s planned epoetin alfa biosimilar to add three new defendants and two theories of infringement. On October 3, 2016, Judge Andrews granted-in-part and denied-in-part Amgen’s motion. First, the court denied Amgen’s request to add three defendants because “[i]t would be unreasonable to…
On October 6-7, 2016, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), a federal agency that advises Congress on Medicare pay policies, held a public meeting, with one session titled “Biosimilars in Medicare Part D.” This session concerned, among other things, market acceptance of biosimilars, including issues relating to interchangeability and costs. …