Tag: FDA approval

The FDA Rejects Mylan/Biocon’s Pegfilgrastim; Market Still Awaits a Biosimilar for Neulasta

In the latest blow to those seeking an alternative to Amgen’s Neulasta®, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent a complete response letter to Biocon, citing manufacturing plant deficiencies, in its rejection of their biosimilar pegfilgrastim application.

Announced on October 10, this is the second biosimilar from Indian manufacturer Biocon that has been detoured by manufacturing plant problems. Its Bangalore plant, where the partners’ biosimilar trastuzumab was to be manufactured, was also cited earlier this year.

In August, Biocon and its marketing partner Mylan withdrew its European Medicines Agency applications for pegfilgrastim and trastuzumab after receiving negative reports on its manufacturing facility.

This is the second FDA biosimilar rejection relating to plant deficiencies. In June, the agency issued a complete response letter to Pfizer, resulting from a legacy Hospira plant in Kansas.

In the press release announcing the latest setback to its pegfilgrastim biosimilar, Biocon said that the complete response letter relates to “facility requalification activities post recent plant modifications. The CRL did not raise any questions on biosimilarity, pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic data, clinical data or immunogenicity.”

Biocon also stated that “We do not expect this [complete response letter] to impact the commercial launch timing of biosimilar pegfilgrastim in the US.” Although Mylan and Biocon had not publicly announced an intended launch date once it received approval, Amgen’s principal patents for Neulasta have expired. One might have expected a relatively quick launch of its biosimilar, considering the 180-day postlaunch exclusivity period no longer exists and the possibility of other players in the market, including Coherus, Pfizer, and Apotex (all of whom received complete response letters).

Amgen Receives Approval for Bevacizumab Biosimilar

The Food and Drug Administration announced today the approval of the first biosimilar for Roche’s Avastin®. The approval of Mvasi™ (bevacizumab-awwb) represents the first biosimilar approved in the US for the direct treatment of cancer. Amgen is partnered with Allergan in the development and marketing of the new biosimilar.

Its approved indications include:

  • Metastatic colorectal cancer, in combination with intravenous 5-fluorouracil-based chemotherapy for first- or second-line treatment. Mvasi is not indicated for the adjuvant treatment of surgically resected colorectal cancer.
  • Metastatic colorectal cancer, in combination with fluoropyrimidine-irinotecan- or fluoropyrimidine-oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy for the second-line treatment of patients who have progressed on a first-line bevacizumab product-containing regimen. Mvasi is not indicated for the adjuvant treatment of surgically resected colorectal cancer.
  • Non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer, in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel for first line treatment of unresectable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic disease.
  • Glioblastoma with progressive disease following prior therapy, based on improvement in objective response rate. No data is available demonstrating improvement in disease-related symptoms or survival with bevacizumab products.
  • Metastatic renal cell carcinoma, in combination with interferon alfa.
  • Cervical cancer that is persistent, recurrent, or metastatic, in combination with paclitaxel and cisplatin or paclitaxel and topotecan.

Like Avastin, Mvasi will carry a black box warning involving gastrointestinal perforations, surgery and wound healing problems, and severe or fatal hemorrhage.

The FDA’s Oncology Advisory Committee had unanimously recommended approval of the agent. No announcement was made by Amgen as to pricing or availability of the new product.

FDA Approves New Humira Biosimilar, Bypasses Advisory Board Route

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced August 29 that it had received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its first biosimilar. Named Cyltezo™ (adalimumab-adbm), a biosimilar to Humira®, it is approved for several autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis, polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn’s disease in adults, plaque psoriasis, and ulcerative colitis.

The FDA approval bypassed the need for an Arthritis Advisory Committee review and recommendation, which the agency suggested may be increasingly common with future biosimilar approvals. One suspects that this is more likely with the licensing of the first biosimilar for a particular originator product, with the assumption of a comprehensive data package on submission.

Like Amgen’s Amjevita®, Boehringer’s biosimilar will likely enter a holding pattern until patent litigation is settled (or the patents expire) on AbbVie’s Humira. In the meantime, Boehringer indicated that it will seek approval for an autoinjector, to stand alongside its newly approved subcutaneous formulation.

Boehringer has also applied for approval with the European Medicines Agency, which is expected to decide on its approval before the end of this year. Samsung Bioepsis and partner Biogen earned its own European approval for Imraldi™ this week, another adalimumab biosimilar.