The Big Molecule Watch is monitoring Phase III clinical trials involving denosumab biosimilars. Here we report on the results of two recently completed studies. On June 30, 2022, a study was published showing that the efficacy of AryoGen Pharmed’s biosimilar denosumab candidate, ARYLIA, is noninferior to Amgen’s PROLIA for the…
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…
Amgen recently announced preliminary results from a Phase 3 study evaluating the efficacy and safety of ABP 654 compared to STELARA (ustekinumab) in adult patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. According to Amgen, the “study met the primary efficacy endpoint, demonstrating no clinically meaningful differences between ABP 654 and…
In 2021, the FDA’s Purple Book went live, providing a searchable database of licensed biological products, including the patent information provided to biosimilar applicants during the patent dance. Pursuant to a law enacted in late 2020, a reference product sponsor must now provide patent information to FDA for listing in the Purple Book…
On April 13, 2022, Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the FDA approved its BLA for bevacizumab-maly, a biosimilar of Roche’s AVASTIN. The product will be marketed under the proprietary name ALYMSYS and represents the third bevacizumab biosimilar approved in the U.S, following Pfizer’s ZIRABEV (bevacizumab-bvzr) in 2019 and Amgen’s MVASI…
On April 14, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversed the PTAB’s determination in IPR2016-01542 that claims of Amgen’s U.S. Patent No. 8,952,138 are obvious. The ’138 patent claims are directed to methods of refolding proteins by “contacting the protein with a refolding buffer comprising a…
On March 19, 2022, the parties in the Amgen Inc. v. Hospira Inc. (D. Del., No. 20-201) NEULASTA®/pegfilgrastim litigation submitted a stipulation to dismiss all claims and counterclaims in the litigation with prejudice. The Court (Judge Connolly) entered the order of dismissal on Monday. The case has been pending since February…
In their respective third quarter financial results, Amgen and Pfizer both announced plans to seek interchangeable status for select biosimilars. Amgen announced that patients are currently being enrolled in Phase 3 studies to support interchangeability designation in the U.S. for biosimilars of AMJEVITA (adalimumab) and ABP 654 (ustekinumab). Pfizer also…
On September 2, 2021, the parties in the Amgen v. Hospira (D. Del., No. 18-1064) Neupogen®/filgrastim litigation submitted a stipulation and proposed order to dismiss all claims and counterclaims in the litigation, with prejudice. The Court (Judge Connolly) has not yet entered the order of dismissal on the docket. The…
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…