Kelly Davio

February 26, 2019

In today’s second full committee hearing on drug pricing held before the US Senate Committee on Finance, executives representing 7 drug makers provided testimony on the high prices of their products.

February 25, 2019

A recent issue brief, published by the Commonwealth Fund, described Germany’s approach as an alternative to the current US model that imposes high cost-sharing on patients.

February 25, 2019

Advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), including gene therapies, cell therapies, and tissue engineering products, are providing groundbreaking approaches to treating rare diseases. However, the costs associated with these drugs are expected to pose challenges for affordability and the sustainability. A newly published paper looked ahead to the potential for—and challenges related to—biosimilars of ATMPs.

February 22, 2019

A newly published study discussed the potential for the anti–vascular endothelial growth factor agent bevacizumab (Avastin) and its cost-saving biosimilars to be used as second-line therapy for the treatment of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who progressed while receiving standard therapy.

February 21, 2019

In an interview with The Center for Biosimilars®, Mona Chitre, PharmD, CGP, chief pharmacy officer and vice president of clinical operations and health innovation at Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield, said increased spending on specialty pharmacy products is a primary reason for health plans’ growing interest in developing strategies to address biosimilars.

February 21, 2019

Despite the fact that the investigation confirmed many of the allegations against Janssen, the bureau concluded that, "at this time, there is insufficient evidence" that Janssen's conduct prevented competition.

February 20, 2019

Corticosteroids are often given as therapy for neurosarcoidosis, but there remains a need for more effective treatment, and infliximab is increasingly used in this context.

February 20, 2019

AbbVie has announced that the FDA has accepted for priority review its New Drug Application for upadacitinib for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Upadacitinib is a proposed once-daily, small-molecule, oral Janus kinase inhibitor that, if approved, could be an alternative to therapy with such injectable biologics as AbbVie’s flagship RA treatment, adalimumab (Humira), which will face biosimilar competition in the United States by 2023.

February 19, 2019

A United States District Judge in New Jersey has allowed a proposed class-action lawsuit against 3 major insulin makers to proceed.

February 18, 2019

Health Canada has announced that all biologics, including biosimilars, will be identified by their brand names and nonproprietary names without the addition of a product-specific suffix. The regulator says that both the brand name and nonproprietary name of any biologic product should be used at all times so that products that share the same nonproprietary name can be differentiated by their brands.