The FDA recently announced the availability of a final guidance for industry titled “Assessing User Fees Under the Biosimilar User Fee Amendments of 2017.” This guidance concerns the implementation of BsUFA II, which as we previously reported, extends FDA’s authority to collect user fees from fiscal year (FY) 2018 to…
The FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) is launching a new program called INTERACT (INitial Targeted Engagement for Regulatory Advice on CBER ProducTs). INTERACT meetings will replace pre-pre-IND meetings, but not formal product-specific meetings, such as pre-IND or pre-BLA meetings. According to the announcement, sponsors will be able to…
As we previously reported, in September 2017 FDA issued draft guidance entitled Statistical Approaches to Evaluate Analytical Similarity that “describes the type[s] of information a sponsor of a proposed biosimilar product should obtain” to support a showing of analytical similarity to a licensed reference product biologic. Today, FDA withdrew this draft guidance….
On June 4, 2018, FDA announced the availability of a new draft guidance on formal meetings with FDA concerning the development and review of biosimilar or interchangeable biological products. The draft guidance, titled “Formal Meetings Between the FDA and Sponsors or Applicants of BsUFA Products,” is available here. FDA also…
Today, the U.S. FDA announced that it has approved Mylan’s aBLA for Fulphila™ (pegfilgrastim-jmdb), a biosimilar of Amgen’s Neulasta®. This approval marks the eleventh FDA licensure of a biosimilar product under the BPCIA regulatory scheme, following last month’s approval of Pfizer’s Retacrit™ (epoetin alfa-epbx), and the first time the…
For certain drugs with serious risks, the FDA may require drug developers to submit a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) to ensure that the benefits of a drug or biologic outweigh its risks. For an overview on REMS click here. We have previously reported that FDA received numerous inquiries from generic…
Below are some recent regulatory developments in the biologics space. As we previously reported, USP has been considering a revision to the naming conventions for the titles of biologics product monographs. Following comments from FDA, USP announced that it would not make any changes absent stakeholder consensus. Last month, USP…
As we reported earlier this month, Coherus BioSciences recently resubmitted its application for CHS-1701, a proposed biosimilar to Neulasta® (pegfilgrastim), in response to a Complete Response Letter that it received from the FDA last June. Yesterday, Coherus announced that the FDA has accepted its pegfilgrastim resubmission and that the FDA considered…
For just the tenth time since the implementation of the BPCIA, the FDA has approved a biosimilar product. Today, the FDA announced that it has approved Pfizer-subsidiary Hospira’s Retacrit™ (epoetin alfa-epbx) for the treatment of anemia caused by chronic kidney disease, chemotherapy, or use of zidovudine in patients with HIV…
Yesterday, Sandoz announced that the FDA has issued a Complete Response Letter (CRL) regarding its aBLA for its proposed biosimilar of Rituxan® (rituximab). Sandoz states that it “stands behind the evidence that it submitted to the FDA and that, “[w]hile disappointed, Sandoz remains committed to further discussions with FDA in…