Back in June 2019, the European generics and biosimilars industry was celebrating the imminent arrival of the supplementary protection certificate (SPC) manufacturing waiver. The mechanism had been long-sought by the off-patent industry, and promised to allow European manufacturers to compete on an equal footing with non-EU competitors by permitting manufacturing for export outside the EU, as well as stockpiling for day-one launch within the EU, during the term of SPCs (see sidebar).
‘We Tried It, It Does Not Work’ – The Problems With The EU’s SPC Manufacturing Waiver
Industry Leaders Outline Difficulties With Mechanism At European Legal Affairs Conference
While the European supplementary protection certificate manufacturing waiver was once seen as a triumph for the region’s off-patent industry, concerns are now being raised over how the mechanism is implemented. Attendees at Medicines for Europe’s legal affairs conference in Dublin last week heard the latest.

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Pharmaceutical companies are being encouraged to reach out to NICE in relation to its HTA Innovation Lab, which provides a sandbox environment in which the health technology assessment body can test new methods of evaluating “innovative and disruptive” therapies.
The weight management drug, Mysimba, continues to demonstrate a positive benefit-risk balance but the data available are not sufficient to fully determine the cardiovascular safety beyond 12 months. Meanwhile, Currax this month announced the publication of a peer-reviewed study of Mysimba that followed patients for over 4.7 years and found no evidence of excess cardiovascular risk.
Health technology assessment body NICE said it has taken on feedback about the implications of allowing higher cost-effectiveness thresholds for some medicines after senior health economists offered diverging views on its methods.
The European Medicines Agency has recommended five drugs for EU-wide approval , including Averoa’s Xoanacyl for concomitant hyperphosphatemia. Two companies have withdrawn their marketing authorization applications.
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Gedeon Richter has filed its Mochida-partnered tocilizumab biosimilar rival to RoActemra with the European Medicines Agency. But with several biosimilars already having won approval, the market could be competitive.
Accord received positive opinions for its Prolia and Xgeva biosimilars at the latest meeting of the EMA’s CHMP. Meanwhile, Celltrion picked up a nod for another Stelara biosimilar, while Rechon Life Science withdrew an application for human insulin.
Echoing wider sentiments in the biosimilar and generic drug industry, the IGBA has warned of the potential consequences of mercantilist tariffs on the global drug supply and their impact on industry and patients.