On June 6, 2022, Amgen announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Amgen’s RIABNI (rituximab-arrx), a biosimilar to Genentech’s RITUXAN®, in combination with methotrexate for treatment of moderate to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RIABNI has been approved since December 2020 for treatment of adult patients with…
On June 3, 2022, the PTAB instituted inter partes review of U.S. Patent No. 9,750,752 (“the ’752 patent”), owned by Chugai and Roche. Fresenius filed a petition for inter partes review of claims 1-16 of the ‘752 patent, directed to methods of treating giant cell arteritis by subcutaneously administering tocilizumab. …
On June 2, 2022, Biogen Inc. and Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd. announced that BYOOVIZ™ (ranibizumab-nuna), a biosimilar referencing Genentech’s LUCENTIS®, will be available in the United States on July 1, 2022. BYOOVIZ™ is the first FDA approved ophthalmology biosimilar. The FDA approved BYOOVIZ™ in September 2021 for the treatment of neovascular…
On May 31, 2022, Sandoz announced the launch of a new global initiative called “Act4Biosimilars” to help address health inequity and inequality worldwide. Act4Biosimilars aims to increase patient access to advanced medicines by facilitating greater approvability, accessibility, acceptability and affordability (the 4 A’s) of biosimilars. The initiative is supported by…
Genentech filed a complaint yesterday against Tanvex in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, alleging infringement of three patents under the BPCIA based on Tanvex’s submission of an aBLA for TX05, a proposed biosimilar of HERCEPTIN (trastuzumab). Genentech asserts that Tanvex’s process for manufacturing TX05 infringes…
Late last week, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. filed an antitrust complaint against Amgen Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Regeneron alleges that “Amgen is engaged in a persistent exclusionary campaign to deny patients the life-saving benefits of [] Regeneron’s cholesterol-reducing medication, Praluent® (alirocumab).” According to Regeneron,…
On June 7, 2022, from 9:30-10:50 AM Eastern Time, FDA is hosting, virtually, its annual public meeting for public comment on Financial Transparency and Efficiency of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA), Biosimilar User Fee Act (BsUFA), and Generic Drug User Fee Amendments (GDUFA). At the meeting, FDA will…
Outlook Therapeutics announced today that the FDA has requested additional information in order to complete the filing of the company’s BLA for LYTENAVA. LYTENAVA, or ONS-5010, is an ophthalmic intravitreal injection formulation of bevacizumab for the treatment of wet AMD and other retinal diseases. In response to FDA’s request, Outlook…
Earlier this week, Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. announced that it has entered into a semi-exclusive license agreement with Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L. for the commercialization of HANLIKANG (rituximab) and HANQUYOU (trastuzumab, trade name in Europe: Zercepac®), two products developed by Henlius, in Brazil. According to the announcement, Abbott will pay…
Amneal announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved its Biologics License Application for FYLNETRA™ (pegfilgrastim-pbbk), a biosimilar referencing NEULASTA®. FYLNETRA, developed in collaboration with Kashiv Biosciences, LLC, is used to treat neutropenia (low neutrophils which are a type of white blood cells that fight infection) which…