On Tuesday, October 31, FDA approved Amgen’s WEZLANA (ustekinumab-auub) as biosimilar to and interchangeable with Janssen’s STELARA (ustekinumab). WEZLANA is the first product to be approved as a biosimilar to STELARA. As we covered previously, Janssen and Amgen settled their BPCIA litigation regarding Amgen’s ustekinumab biosimilar product in May 2023….
On October 27, Coherus BioSciences, Inc. and Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co., Ltd. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved LOQTORZI (toripalimab-tpzi) in combination with cisplatin and gemcitabine for the first-line treatment of adults with metastatic or recurrent locally advanced nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), and as monotherapy for the treatment…
The Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee of the FDA is meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, October 31, 2023, to review a Biologics License Application by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. for exagamglogene autotemcel (exa-cel). Exa-cel is a cell-based gene therapy product composed of the patient’s own hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) edited…
Last month, FDA issued a Request for Information (RFI) in the Federal Register seeking information and comments from interested stakeholders regarding “critical scientific challenges and opportunities to advance the development of individualized cellular and gene therapies (CGTs).” Individualized CGTs are therapies “developed for a single patient (or a very small…
FDA grants interchangeable designation to Pfizer’s adalimumab biosimilar – On October 5, 2023, Pfizer Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has designated ABRILADA (adalimumab-afzb) as an interchangeable biosimilar to HUMIRA (adalimumab). ABRILADA was originally approved by the FDA in November 2019. The new interchangeable designation was…
On September 29, 2023, Biogen announced the FDA approval of TOFIDENCE (tocilizumab-bavi) intravenous formulation which is the first tocilizumab biosimilar approved by the FDA in the United States. TOFIDENCE is approved for the treatment of moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis (RA), polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (PJIA), and systemic juvenile…
On September 20, Alvotech announced that FDA has accepted the resubmission of its Biologics License Application (BLA) for AVT02, a high concentration, interchangeable biosimilar to HUMIRA (adalimumab). FDA has set a Biosimilar User Fee Act (BsUFA) goal date for approval of the resubmitted AVT02 BLA of February 24, 2024. As…
On September 20, Merck announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted priority review status to Merck’s supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) seeking approval for its anti-PD-1 therapy KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in combination with external beam radiotherapy (EBRT) plus concurrent chemotherapy, followed by brachytherapy, as a treatment for newly…
Approval of Fresenius Kabi’s Tocilizumab Biosimilar in the EU: On September 19, 2023, Fresenius Kabi announced that the European Commission (EC) granted marketing authorization for TYENNE (tocilizumab), a biosimilar referencing Roche’s ROACTEMRA. TYENNE is the first tocilizumab biosimilar approved in the EU. TYENNE received approval for both subcutaneous (prefilled syringe…
Last week, FDA released a draft guidance, “Labeling for Biosimilar and Interchangeable Biosimilar Products” (“2023 Draft Guidance”) that—when finalized—will revise and replace its July 2018 final guidance, “Labeling for Biosimilar Products.” FDA noted that this 2023 Draft Guidance reflects recommendations based on the “valuable experience about labeling considerations” that FDA…