Nearly a month ahead of the PDUFA date, red blood cell maturation drug luspatercept cleared the FDA for treating anemia in adults with beta-thalassemia who require regular red blood cell (RBC) transfusions. Branded Reblozyl, the drug, developed in a collaboration between Celgene Corp. and Acceleron Pharma Inc., is expected to be available in one week following approval.
BEIJING – Chinese biosimilar maker Bio-Thera Solutions Ltd., of Guangzhou, said its BAT-1406 became the first biosimilar referencing Abbvie Inc.'s blockbuster TNF-blocker, Humira (adalimumab), to win a marketing nod in China. It is Bio-Thera's first biosimilar and China's second homegrown biosimilar approved by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA).
HONG KONG – Daewon Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., based in Seoul, South Korea, has received the approval from the country's Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) to market Terrosa, a biosimilar teriparatide for osteoporosis treatment developed by Richter-Helm Biotec GmbH & Co. KG, of Hamburg, Germany.
BEIJING Chinese drug regulators granted conditional approval to Shanghai Green Valley (Group) Co. Ltd.'s marine-derived oligosaccharide, GV-971, to treat Alzheimer's disease (AD), but required further trials to prove the drug's efficacy after marketing.
Redhill Biopharma Ltd. CEO Dror Ben-Asher told BioWorld that the 2 million patients targeted by just-approved, delayed-release Talicia, previously known as RHB-105, for adult infection by Helicobacter pylori represents "the baseline where we start our promotion," and there's an opportunity to help many more patients. "When you combine the high prevalence of roughly 100 million Americans infected and more than half of the world's population with the association with gastric cancer, it's a major public health concern," he said. About 800,000 people worldwide die every year from gastric cancer, and about 90% of cases are caused by H. pylori.