Samsung Bioepis and Biogen issued a press release on November 18 announcing that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has accepted for review their Biologics License Application for SB11, a proposed biosimilar of Lucentis® (ranibizumab). Ranibizumab is an anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) therapy used to treat retinal vascular disorders,…
Emer Cooke, with 30 years’ experience in international regulatory affairs, took up her position this morning as Executive Director of EMA with a renewable five-year mandate. Previously, Ms. Cooke worked for the pharmaceutical unit of the European Commission and EMA and was the Director responsible for all medical product-related regulatory…
Alvotech and Cipla Medpro, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cipla Limited, recently announced an exclusive partnership “to bring key biosimilars to patients in markets such as South Africa.” The biosimilars portfolio will include two oncology drugs and three drugs for treating autoimmune diseases. The press release reports that under the…
Last week, the EMA issued a positive opinion for Orphan Drug Designation (“ODD”) to Prestige BioPharma’s PBP1510, a first-in-class anti-PAUF monoclonal antibody. PAUF is found in a majority of pancreatic cancers and plays an important role in disease progression; PBP1510 received ODD for the treatment of pancreatic cancer, for which…
During the EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (“CHMP”) meeting this July, the CHMP recommended the approval of two biologics and one biosimilar: GlaxoSmithKline’s Blenrep (belantamab mafodotin), for treatment of relapsed and refractory multiple myeloma Novartis’ Adakveo (crizanlizumab), for prevention of vaso-occlusive crises in patients with sickle cell…
Last week, the EMA authorized Insulin aspart Sanofi’s biosimilar product. The EMA notes on its website that Insulin aspart Sanofi is “highly similar to another biological medicine [NovoRapid] that is already authorized in the EU.” Insulin aspart Sanofi contains the active substance insulin aspart, a rapid-acting insulin, and received marketing…
We previously reported on Shanghai Henlius’s (“Henlius”) biosimilar developments, including their announcement of an exclusive license agreement with Mabxience Research, S.L. to develop and commercialize their trastuzumab biosimilar, HLX02. This week, Henlius jointly announced with Accord Healthcare Limited that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the…
Swedish biotechnology company Xbrane Biopharma reports that, despite the difficulties posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, it will continue to recruit patients for the ongoing Phase III trial of its Xlucane® (ranibizumab) biosimilar product, and that it is still on track towards regulatory approval ahead of Lucentis® patent expiration in the…
Mabion We previously reported last month that applications for initial marketing authorization for two rituximab biosimilars were withdrawn from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), according to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP). In particular, the EMA reported that these applications were withdrawn after the agency had evaluated…
The Korean Herald reported today that Celltrion has applied for the European Medicine Agency’s approval of CT-P17, a Humira (adaliumumab) biosimilar. According to the Korean Herald, Celltrion “expects to introduce CT-P17 to the European market in about a year’s time, which is how long the EMA typically takes to review.” …