General

Last update: 10 May 2013 

In the EU, a legal framework for approving biosimilars was established in 2003. This framework means that biosimilars can only be approved centrally via EMA and not nationally.

Last update: 12 April 2013 

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is the body responsible for approval of biosimilars within the 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’.

US-based biotech firm Affymax announced on 24 February 2013 that it is recalling all lots of its red blood cell-stimulating medicine Omontys (peginesatide).  This could have broader implications on how FDA evaluates follow-on non-biological complex drugs (NBCDs).

US-based biotech companies AbbVie and InterMune have both sued EMA in a bid to block publication of clinical trial data for their drugs.

US FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg defended the substitution of interchangeable biosimilars at the Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA) Annual Meeting which was held in Orlando, Florida, USA, on 20–22 February 2013.

Biosimilars will replace some 70% of global chemical drugs over the next couple of decades, according to industry experts. This replacement will occur due to the better safety profiles of biosimilars compared to chemical drugs and the fact that many originator biologicals will lose their patent protection in the coming years, according to Mr Appaji, Director General of Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India (Pharmexcil).

Much has happened in the biosimilars’ industry over the last year.

Last update: 18 January 2013 

European Medicines Agency (EMA) is the body responsible for approval of biosimilars within the 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’.

Last updated: 14 December 2012 

The Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (Bundesinstitut für Arzneimittel und Medizinprodukte, BfArM) is responsible for the approval, i.e. marketing authorization, of medicinal products, including biologicals, in Germany.

The US-based Alliance for Safe Biologic Medicines (ASBM) announced on 28 November 2012 that its recommendations with respect to identification and substitution of biosimilars have been published in the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) policy forum.