Tag: Mylan/Biocon

Partners Mylan and Biocon Announce Launch of Trastuzumab Biosimilar Ogivri®

Amgen now has company as the second biosimilar competitor to Herceptin® has launched. On December 2, 2019, Mylan and Biocon announced the availability of Ogivri in the United States.

A price for the new biosimilar was not announced, but it is assumed that they will need to meet or beat Amgen’s initial offering, which was 13% below the average sales price of Herceptin. Mylan and Biocon have a licensing agreement with Genentech; it is unknown as to whether Amgen’s launch in July 2019 prompted an earlier-than-expected launch for Mylan/Biocon.

Ogivri is available in single-use vials in doses of 150 mg and 420 mg.

This marks the second biosimilar launch for the partners, the first being their pegfilgrastim product Fulphila® in 2018.

In other biosimilar news…The Food and Drug Administration released in November its long-awaited draft guidelines for approval of biosimilar insulin agents. March 1, 2020 is the date FDA set for transitioning insulin copies, among other products (e.g., growth hormone) to the 351(k) approval pathway. The guidelines outline a key update to the expected regulations. Studies proving immunogenicity characteristics of the biosimilar insulin agents will likely not be necessary, which should lower the cost of entry and entice some prospective manufacturers. In its justification, FDA asserted that if the analytical assessment requirements are met, there would be very little risk of immunogenicity caused by the new biosimilar insulin.

New Legislative Proposals Offer Hope to Insulin Follow-on Manufacturers

This may be good news for partners Mylan and Biocon: Two bills are circulating on Capitol Hill that can alter the transition of insulins to biologic agents in March 2020. However, the timing for passage of these bills is questionable.

The Senate’s Affordable Insulins Approval Now Act (S.2103), a bipartisan bill that was introduced by Senator Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) in mid-July, has 13 cosponsors to date. It was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, where it awaits review.

Insulin transition
Senator Richard J. Durbin

Under this bill, a pharmaceutical company may file a 505(b)2 application for an insulin product before January 1, 2020 and still be evaluated via the abbreviated new drug approval pathway beyond the March 20, 2020 transition date. These filings are regulated under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which governs the approval of nonbiologic drugs.

If S.2103 is passed, Mylan/Biocon, which received a complete response letter from the Food and Drug Administration September 25 for its follow-on insulin product, would not have to refile for approval under the 351(k) pathway as a biosimilar. Under the terms of S.2103, the insulin would only be transitioned to biologic status and regulated under the Public Health Services Act once approval has been obtained (regardless of when that occurred).

A separate House bill (HR.4244) was introduced in September by Representative Michael Kelly (R-PA). This proposal takes a different approach towards encouraging insulin copy development—completely removing the mandate to transition insulin copies to the 351(k) approval pathway. This bill, which has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, does not have any cosponsors at present. Under Representative Kelly’s proposal, insulin copies would be carved out and continue to be regulated under section 505 of the FD&C Act.

The timing and current status of these bills make it seem unlikely they would be signed into law before the transition date of March 20, 2020. However, it is possible that actions of this type can be attached to other legislation that is further along. Companies like Mylan and Biocon certainly hope so, otherwise valuable time (having to wait until March 24, 2021 to apply as a biosimilar) will be lost in this regulatory “dead zone.”

Biocon and Mylan: The Race to Approve Insulin Glargine Follow-on

Biocon received a second complete response letter relating to manufacturing plant problems in Malaysia. This may seem like a straight forward issue that could hamper its efforts to produce an insulin glargine follow-on agent, but it can become a major problem barring a very quick resolution.

In the filing Biocon made to the India Stock Exchange, the company said, “The CRL did not identify any outstanding scientific issues with the application. We remain confident of the quality of our application and do not anticipate any impact of this CRL on the commercial launch timing of our insulin glargine in the US.” However, that may be a fairly optimistic opinion.

Insulin copies are part of the class of biologics designated “transitional products” that will be approved only through the 351(k) biosimilar approval pathway after March 2020. The latest rules issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specify that if a product in this drug class (and others like growth hormones) does not receive approval by this date, the manufacturer must submit an entirely new biologic licensing application (for approval as a full-fledged biosimilar). That would require completing all of the necessary developmental steps—proving the physiochemical and pharmacodynamic equivalence to what would now be termed the reference product—Lantus®.

The FDA rules for transition products do not exempt agents that have already received complete response letters and may still be in the FDA’s queue. This is relevant because neither of Biocon’s rejection letters (the first issued in June 2018) pointed to problems with the scientific evaluation of its insulin glargine. Rather, both involved failed inspections at the plants at which Biocon was going to manufacture the agent. The drug was approved by the European Medicines Agency and is currently available by prescription in the EU.

As indicated in a previous post, pharmaceutical company interest in insulin biosimilars is fairly low. That may be because of the approaching transition date.

The question remains, can Biocon correct its Malaysian manufacturing plant deficiencies, can FDA reinspect, and can FDA issue final approval for this 505(b)2 agent before February 29, 2020? If not, even if Biocon’s plant passes inspection in December 2019, that will likely result in years’ long delay before the new BLA can be submitted.

Mylan’s Fulphila Pegfilgrastim Biosimilar Launches at Big Discount

The first pegfilgrastim biosimilar (Fulphila™) in the US has begun marketing, and Mylan/Biocon are offering a 33% discount to the wholesale acquisition cost (WAC) of the originator product Neulasta®. The Center for Biosimilars reported a communication from Mylan confirming the action. This is a watershed moment for the pegfilgrastim category and could signal the beginning of large savings opportunities for payers and patients.

At a WAC of $4,175 per syringe, the pegfilgrastim biosimilar may be very attractive to health plans and insurers. It is also assumed that this will effectively drive down the average sales price (ASP) of the category over time. The ASP includes the WAC as well as any rebates or discounts given by the manufacturers.

The pegfilgrastim biosimilar, like the reference drug, Amgen’s Neulasta, is approved to decrease the incidence of infection as manifested by febrile neutropenia in patients receiving myelosuppressive chemotherapy.

Although patent litigation between the partners and the maker of the originator product (Amgen), Mylan/Biocon have decided to launch at risk. This means that if the District Court sides with Amgen, Mylan’s could face large financial penalties, including profits on the sales of the biosimilar.

FDA Approval Eludes Amgen for Biosimilar Trastuzumab

Amgen will have to wait a bit longer to market its biosimilar version of trastuzumab . On Friday, June 1, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) rejected Amgen’s 351(k) application for its Herceptin® biosimilar. biosimilar trastuzumab approvalIn a brief press release, Amgen announced receiving the complete response letter for ABP 980. In the announcement, it also said that the delay in its biosimilar trastuzumab approval should not “impact our US launch plan.” This may signal that even if it received approval, it would not market the biosimilar trastuzumab immediately.

The timing of the FDA announcement on the biosimilar trastuzumab approval contrasted with the near-simultaneous marketing authorization of this same trastuzumab biosimilar by the European Medicines Agency. The biologic will be marketed in Europe under the trade name Kanjinti™.

Mylan/Biocon’s Ogivri™ remains the only biosimilar trastuzumab approved by the FDA. It is not yet marketed, however. Separate trastuzumab biosimilars by Teva/Celltrion and Pfizer have been stalled by the FDA. Samsung Bioepis’s entry is due for an FDA approval decision in the fourth quarter of 2018.

In related biosimilar news… in September 2017, Mylan filed a 505(b)2 application for its insulin glargine agent. The manufacturing duo of Mylan and Biocon received a rejection from the FDA on June 1. The complete response letter specified issues raised by a change in manufacturing site (from one in India to a new facility in Malaysia). As reported by the Economic Times, the complete response letter was expected by Mylan and Biocon. They told the Economic Times, “Together, Mylan and Biocon are already executing on all required activities we had agreed upon with the FDA, and they are progressing according to plan,” the statement said.

Although insulins are not currently approved through the 351(k) biosimilar pathway, they are among the “transitional agents,” which by 2020 will be considered biosimilars by the FDA.

What Is the Biosimilar Pegfilgrastim Market Opportunity?

We’ve covered the contest to bring a biosimilar pegfilgrastim to market, with considerable depth. The progress and setbacks of Mylan/Biocon, Coherus Biosciences, Sandoz, and Apotex have been tracked. Other drug makers are also working on plans towards 351(k) applications for approval. Eventually—likely sooner than later—one or two will hit the market.

Biosimilar Pegfilgrastim, Neulasta®, and Onpro®

Amgen, maker of the originator product Neulasta®, disclosed in its first-quarter financial report that the total sales for the product in the US is $1.0 billion, $146 million for the rest of the world, for a total of $1.15 billion. This means a US market of approximately $4 billion for one year of sales. Amgen also noted that 62% of its first-quarter Neulasta sales are associated with its Onpro® kit. Although the major patents for pegfilgrastim have expired, Onpro is still protected by patent. Onpro does have some significant advantages in that the patient does not need to go to the doctor’s office for an injection after receiving chemotherapy. The sales figures indicate that doctors prescribe it in preference to the injectable form of pegfilgrastim.

Neulasta OnproAt a current 62% marketshare for Neulasta Onpro, the initial total slice of the pie available for biosimilars may only be $1.5 billion (not considering WAC discounts). If we assume a 20% discount, this may be closer to $1.2 billion. It may not seem logical for Amgen to make great efforts to defend its share of injectable pegfilgrastim because of its successful conversion to Onpro. Also, Onpro does have marketable advantages over the injectable form.

The list price of Neulasta is upwards of $7000 per injection, and Amgen does not charge additionally for the Onpro kit. This stance may prove an incentive to health plans and insurers to not encourage biosimilar use over Onpro.

Will Physicians Resist Moving From Onpro to a Biosimilar Pegfilgrastim Injection?

The $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion estimate also assumes that Amgen cannot convert more patients to Onpro prior to approval of a new biosimilar. That would further shrink the revenue opportunity. Physicians may also resist payer efforts and not prescribe the injectable form if they favor the Onpro kit. To the extent that payers may prefer the biosimilar (or otherwise restrict the use of a more expensive originator agent) when it becomes available, that slice of the pie could increase quite a bit. Furthermore, the picture could also change in a few years as biosimilar manufacturers develop delivery systems that gain the same advantages as Onpro.

In its earnings report, Amgen indicated the sales of Neulasta have been decreasing, by 5% from the same quarter last year. This may be the result of movement to other, less-toxic cancer chemotherapies or other treatments to prevent neutropenia and its related infections.

The Onpro market for the rest of the world may be given a boost soon, as Amgen also announced that the European Medicines Agency issued a positive opinion for the drug maker to include the Onpro Kit in its EU label.

As reported in BR&R, Coherus CEO Denny Lanfear thought the pegfilgrastim market may be split in a manner similar to that for filgrastim (i.e., 30%/30%/40% shares for 2 biosimilar makers and the originator). That may possibly mean 30% of a $1.2 billion US market (not $4 billion), if payers do not emphasize the use of the biosimilar over Onpro.