US Biosimilars See A Banner Year Despite Few Approvals

The US Senate Judiciary Committee’s Chairman Chuck Grassley criticized the Senate’s reduced working hours as six previously introduced bills once again land on their desk.

Massive layoffs and the biosimilar user fee program’s historic flirtation with the non-user fee spending requirements raise concerns that the FDA could lose its ability to collect BsUFA revenue, which could mean a fine or jail time for agency staff.

Henlius has reported progress in its development of a bevacizumab product for treating ophthalmic diseases, with its Essex-partnered HLX04-O candidate meeting its primary endpoint in a Phase III trial. Meanwhile, Outlook Therapeutics has taken another shot at getting its own ophthalmic bevacizumab approved in the US after resubmitting its filing.

While the biosimilars industry has welcomed individual pockets of progress around regulatory streamlining, it is essential that approaches from global authorities move forward together if they are to have a meaningful impact on biosimilar development. At Medicines for Europe’s annual biosimilars conference, regulators from around the world talked about how their thinking is converging.