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Bio Relief: US FDA Rules On Biosimilars Naming
The suspense is over: the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made their decision.
As more biologics come off patent in the next few years, the opportunities for biosimilars and the impact upon the biotech and pharmaceutical industries are limitless. While it's exciting for physicians, patients, and payers, the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) regulatory ruling on biosimilar suffixes has increasingly taken on more urgency. Well, the wait is now over.
The FDA has determined that a suffix will help distinguish biosimilar products and avoid a substitution mistake--and it has has already included four additional letters on the end of each non-proprietory name for existing biosimilars: Filgrastim, the biologic drug Neupogen, becomes filgrastim-sndz, biosimilar Zarxio. Adalimumab (Humira) becomes adalimumab-atto (Amjevita).
At this point, only four biosimilar drugs are approved in the US, but are not considered interchangeable with their reference biologic. This means pharmacists cannot make a choice whether to give a patient a biosimilar as opposed to a biologic, which is a regular practice with generics and small-molecule drugs.
The new guidance says each suffix can not have a specific meaning attached to it and must include four lowercase letters.
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February 4th 2025Biosimilars have the potential to reduce health care costs and expand patient access, but economic and policy barriers affect adoption, explored James D. Chambers, PhD, MPharm, MSc, associate professor at the Tufts Medical Center Institute for Clinical Research and Health Policy Studies, in an interview.
Biosimilars Gastroenterology Roundup for November 2024—Podcast Edition
December 1st 2024On this episode of Not So Different, we discuss market changes in the adalimumab space; calls for PBM transparency and biosimilar access reforms grew; new data for biosimilars in gastroenterology conditions; and all the takeaways from this year's Global Biosimilars Week.
Biosimilars Development Roundup for October 2024—Podcast Edition
November 3rd 2024On this episode of Not So Different, we discuss the GRx+Biosims conference, which included discussions on data transparency, artificial intelligence (AI), and collaboration to enhance the global supply chain for biosimilars and generic drugs, as well as the evolving requirements for biosimilar devices.
FDA Approves Celltrion's Avtozma as Third Tocilizumab Biosimilar
January 31st 2025The FDA approved Avtozma, a tocilizumab biosimilar developed by Celltrion, for the treatment of several rheumatic conditions. It is the third biosimilar to reference Actemra (tocilizumab) to be approved for US patients.
