HONG KONG –South Korea's leading biopharmaceutical developer, Celltrion Inc., has launched its early/metastatic breast and gastric cancer biosimilar Herzuma (trastuzumab) in Iraq. It is Herzuma's first foray into the Middle Eastern region.

HONG KONG – South Korean biopharmaceutical company Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd., based in Incheon, will expand into the Brazilian market with Brenzys (etanercept), having recently signed a marketing agreement with Brazil's Ministry of Health. The drug is now available through the country's public health system, Sistema Único de Saùde (SUS).

SAO PAULO, Brazil – Pharmacovigilance is emerging as a key concern for the development and distribution of biosimilars in Latin America. Experts gathered this week for the BIO Latin America conference focused on the issue and highlighted what they see as a key concern, one that is holding back the spread of that new class of drugs throughout the region.

Drug pricing legislation will be high on the to-do list when the U.S. Congress returns from its August recess next week, as both the Senate and the House are expected to take action this month on competing packages of provisions aimed at controlling prescription drug prices.

HONG KONG – Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd., a South Korean biosimilar developer, said the FDA approved its July 2018 application for Hadlima (adalimumab-bwwd), a biosimilar referencing Abbvie Inc. blockbuster TNF-blocker Humira (adalimumab).

HONG KONG – Celltrion Inc., of South Korea, and Hong Kong-based conglomerate Nan Fung Group Holdings Ltd. said they have built a joint venture named Vcell Healthcare Ltd., geared toward the Chinese market. 

HONG KONG – Supported by the municipal government of Chongqing in China, a joint venture between South Korean drugmaker Binex Co. Ltd. and Chinese pharmaceutical company Chongqing Zein Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. will be set up in the third quarter of this year.

Unintended consequences. It’s a term that’s bandied about all too often in Washington these days, as it’s become the PC way for lawmakers and agencies like the FDA to save face when they have to admit, “Oops, we didn’t think that one through very well” when confronted with the negative impacts of the laws and regulations they’ve created. A new unintended consequence could be in the offing as the FDA extends its practice of label carve-outs to biosimilars. A familiar feature of the generics scene, carve-outs have allowed the agency to approve a knock-off even though the reference drug may...

It’s not every day that drugmakers get a chance to take on an entirely new market. Biosimilars are offering that opportunity. And hundreds of drugmakers, research institutions and governments are hoping to make the most of it. The result is more than 700 follow-on biologics (FOBs) already approved or in the global pipeline, according to a new report by BioWorld. Those entering the field are as diverse as the FOBs they’re developing. Biologics pioneers, big pharma and generic drugmakers are being joined by “pure-play” start-ups, conglomerates, public-private consortia, contract manufacturers, contract research organizations, government agencies, nonprofits and research institutions. Some...

It’s 1984. The year opens with the demise of Ma Bell, as the Bell System is broken into smaller, regional telephone companies. The idea is to end Ma’s nationwide monopoly, but the result is a handful of smaller monopolies since there still is no telephone competition. The Soviet Union leads a boycott of the Summer Olympics being held in Los Angeles, presumably as payback for the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games, which was, in turn, a response to the Soviet war in Afghanistan. Even though Time named the computer the “Machine of the Year” two years ago, personal computers...