Kelly Davio

October 04, 2019

This week, the White House has been signaling that it sees progress on the problem of high drug prices, a subject of such concern to the administration that it released the “American Patients First” blueprint for reducing drug prices in 2018. However, some groups are calling for redoubled efforts on encouraging biosimilars as a way to generate savings and relieve the burden of high drug costs on the healthcare system and on patients.

October 03, 2019

Could adalimumab and its biosimilars become a less attractive option for treating some inflammatory diseases in the face of new therapeutic choices like interleukin-17 inhibitors? In the case of ixekizumab, a recent head-to-head study versus adalimumab showed that the newer product was superior in terms of improving joint and skin disease in patients with psoriatic arthritis.

October 03, 2019

Biocon and Mylan have launched their biosimilar insulin glargine, Semglee, in Australia. The general schedule for Semglee lists the biosimilar as “a-flagged,” a designation that allows a product to be substituted at the pharmacy level without consulting with the prescribing physician.

October 02, 2019

A newly introduced item of legislation proposes to eliminate co-payments for patients when they receive a biosimilar rather than an originator biologic in Medicare Part B.

October 01, 2019

While policy makers have hailed drug price transparency laws as steps toward bringing down the high cost of drugs for US patients, questions remain as to how effective these laws are at achieving their aims. Now, in a research letter published in JAMA Network Open, researchers say that these laws are largely ineffective at revealing true transaction prices for drugs.

October 01, 2019

Biosimilar trastuzumab is becoming a feature of the biosimilar landscape in both Europe and the United States, with 5 agents (Herzuma, Kanjinti, Ontuzant, Ogivri, and Trazimera) approved in both territories and with additional biosimilars in the drugmakers’ pipelines. During the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019, held in Barcelona, Spain from September 27 to October 1, researchers reported new data from phase 3 studies of 2 such biosimilar products.

September 30, 2019

During the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019, researchers provided a detailed look at a 3-treatment, 6-sequence crossover study for a pegfilgrastim biosimilar, and a separate team presented on the use of biosimilar filgrastim in patients who are being given chemotherapy regimens that involve a rest period of up to 14 days.

September 30, 2019

In an email to The Center for Biosimilars®, a Pfizer representative said that, after having agreed to the terms of a settlement with Genentech and Roche that provides the biosimilar developer with global licenses for its product, Pfizer plans to launch its biosimilar bevacizumab, Zirabev, in the US market on December 31, 2019.

September 28, 2019

During this week’s European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress 2019, held September 27 to October 1 in Barcelona, Spain, a research team presented findings from a phase 3 trial of Samsung Bioepis' SB8, a proposed bevacizumab biosimilar referencing Avastin.

September 27, 2019

“Talk about the success first,” said Steinar Madsen, MD, medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency. “Forget the nonexistent problems.”