Amgen & Simcere Plot Long Run On Biosimilars In China

The strategic alliance between Amgen and Simcere Pharmaceutical to develop biosimilars in China was officially kicked off in Nanjing city last week, amid heightened excitement around China’s newly issued opinions on deepening reforms to encourage drug innovation including biosimilars. With the favorable opportunities, Amgen is open to establishing more local partnerships as its core China strategy.

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Jinsheng Ren and Tony Hooper • Source: Simcere Pharmaceutical

China’s biosimilar market is expected to usher in a major breakthrough, following the launch of the first large scale collaborative partnership for biosimilars development between Amgen Inc. and Simcere Pharmaceutical Group on Oct. 12, which could potentially help China to explore the regulatory framework and pathway to review and accelerate biosimilar approvals.

The kick-off ceremony came after the late September announcement that the two companies would work together on four biosimilars from Amgen’s pipeline in the areas of inflammation and oncology. Disclosed at the ceremony, the drugs under collaboration include Amgevita (adalimumab-atto), a biosimilar to AbbVie Inc

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