On Sep 16, 2022, Partners STADA Arzneimittel AG (“STADA”) and Xbrane Biopharma AB (publ) (“Xbrane”) announced that the European Medicines Agency’s (EMA’s) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) adopted a positive opinion for XIMLUCI®. XIMLUCI® is a biosimilar candidate referencing LUCENTIS® (ranibizumab), which is an anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial…
On August 2, 2022, Coherus BioSciences, Inc. announced that the FDA approved CIMERLI™ (ranibizumab-eqrn) as a biosimilar interchangeable with LUCENTIS® (ranibizumab injection) for all five indications, with 12 months of exclusivity. Retina indications for which CIMERL is interchangeable include Neovascular (wet) Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD), Macular Edema following Retinal Vein Occlusion…
In May 2022, Xbrane announced that it had withdrawn its biologics license application (BLA) for its ranibizumab biosimilar of LUCENTIS®. On July 4, 2022, Xbrane announced that based on comments and recommendations in a General Advice letter received from FDA, “Xbrane plans to resubmit the [ranibizumab] BLA during 2022,” and that…
The European Medicines Agency’s (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recently adopted positive opinions for three biosimilar products. On June 23, 2022, CHMP recommended the grant of a marketing authorization for RANIVISIO (ranibizumab) to Midas Pharma GmbH. RANIVISIO references LUCENTIS® and, if approved, would be used to…
Formycon recently announced its sales and earnings figures for the first quarter of 2022. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) amounted to EUR -4.0 million (Q1/previous year: EUR -1.7 million), which was in line with expectations. According to the press release, the reported revenues were mainly a result…
Earlier this week, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (Teva) announced that the UK Medicines & Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved ONGAVIA, a ranibizumab biosimilar referencing Genentech’s LUCENTIS. Ranibizumab inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), which is responsible for the excessive formation of blood vessels in the retina. The United Kingdom is…
On May 10, 2022, Formycon AG (“Formycon”) and ATHOS KG (“ATHOS”) announced that they have closed a transaction regarding the biosimilar assets FYB201 (ustekinumab) and FYB202 (ranibuzumab). According to the press release, Formycon has acquired 100% of the rights in FYB202, a biosimilar candidate for STELARA®, and ATHOS’s 50% stake…
In January 2022, Biogen Inc. announced it had reached an agreement to sell its equity stake in the Samsung Bioepis joint venture to partner Samsung Biologics. On April 20, 2022, Samsung Biologics and Biogen announced that Samsung Biologics has now fully acquired Samsung Bioepis for a total consideration of USD…
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 October 1, 2021, Coherus BioSciences announced that FDA has accepted for review Coherus’ BLA for CHS-201, a candidate biosimilar to Lucentis® (ranibizumab), which is indicated for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and several other ophthalmic conditions. The BLA was originally submitted by Coherus’ partner, BioeqAG. On October 4, 2021,…