The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is the body responsible for approval of biosimilars within the European Union (EU). A legal framework for approving biosimilars was established in 2003. Approval of biosimilars is based on an abbreviated registration process, which allows biosimilars manufacturers to provide a reduced package of information compared to originator drugs, provided they can prove ‘similarity’ to the originator or reference drug.

Canada’s drug regulator, Health Canada, has approved the infliximab and filgrastim biosimilars Avsola (ABP 710) and Nivestym.

There are over 200 trials for COVID-19 currently in progress. These include trials of monoclonal antibodies, including from the South Korean firm Celltrion, as well as vaccines, notably from the Chinese firm CanSino Biologics.

Spending on adalimumab in Denmark decreased by almost 83% between September and December 2018, thanks to a mandatory switching policy.

The top 10 selling originator biological drugs accounted for over half of all biological sales in Canada in 2018, new data reveals.

US firm Revance Therapeutics (Revance) announced on 1 June 2020 that its partner, US-based drugmaker Mylan, had decided to move forward with a development plan, under a 351(k) pathway, for a proposed biosimilar to Allergan’s cosmetic blockbuster Botox and Botox Cosmetic (onabotulinumtoxinA).

At the 2020 bilateral regulatory dialogue meeting, senior officials from the European Commission, European Medicines Agency (EMA) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) identified new strategic priorities for medicines.

Since the enactment of Hatch-Waxman Act in 1984, use of generics has grown substantially in the US. Generics now account for nearly nine out of 10 prescriptions and are considered a cost-containment solution for escalating healthcare expenditures [1]. However, several factors may influence the use of generics including, but not limited to, the perception of the safety and effectiveness of these products [2]. The US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) standard of bioequivalence requires similar pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles of generic versus reference drug products with the assumption of similar pharmacodynamic (PD) effect. However, several instances related to generics substitution and treatment failures have led to concern particularly for drugs with narrow therapeutic indices and in therapeutic areas with severe effectiveness and safety outcomes.

Japan-based Fujifilm Kyowa Kirin Biologics announced on 29 June 2020 that it had received approval from Japan’s medicines regulatory agency, the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA), for its adalimumab biosimilar FKB327 in Japan.

Global spending on medicines reached US$1 trillion in 2014 and was expected to rise to US$1.2 trillion by 2017 [1], with biologicals making up an increasing part of this total due to their use to treat previously intractable diseases. In fact, spending on biologicals has doubled since 2007 and growth has outstripped that of total sales of pharmaceuticals by a significant margin. The global biological market is worth approximately US$276 billion, and in 2018 seven of the top 10 best-selling drugs were biologicals compared with only three in 2008 [2].