<p> Novartis kicked off a new era in US medicine on Thursday with the launch of the first ‘biosimilar’ copy of a biotechnology drug approved in the United States, following a green light from a US appeals court.<br /><br />Novartis unit Sandoz said Zarxio, its form of Amgen’s white blood cell-boosting product Neupogen, would increase access to an important treatment by offering a ‘high-quality, more affordable version’. US biotech group Amgen had tried to stop the sale of Zarxio, also known as filgrastim-sndz, but the Washington-based appeals court rejected its attempt to block the launch.<br /><br />The potential for copycats to take business from original biotech drug brands is increasingly grabbing investors’ attention, although uncertainties remain as to how quickly so-called biosimilars will win business.<br /><br />Biosimilars have been on the market in Europe since 2006. <br />However, the US regulatory pathway for biosimilars, which are made in living cells and can never be exact replicas of originals, was only established by a healthcare reform in 2010. The arrival of biosimilars threatens companies heavily reliant on biotech drugs, such as Amgen, AbbVie and Roche, and Citigroup analysts have predicted a transfer of at least $110 billion of value from innovator companies to copycat producers in the next decade.<br /><br />Novartis did not immediately announce the price it would charge for Zarxio in the United States.<br /><br />Neupogen is a $1.2 billion-a-year medicine for Amgen that boosts white blood cell counts to fight infections in cancer patients.<br /><br />Insurers hope biosimilars will eventually cost the public 40 per cent to 50 per cent less than the original brands.</p>
<p> Novartis kicked off a new era in US medicine on Thursday with the launch of the first ‘biosimilar’ copy of a biotechnology drug approved in the United States, following a green light from a US appeals court.<br /><br />Novartis unit Sandoz said Zarxio, its form of Amgen’s white blood cell-boosting product Neupogen, would increase access to an important treatment by offering a ‘high-quality, more affordable version’. US biotech group Amgen had tried to stop the sale of Zarxio, also known as filgrastim-sndz, but the Washington-based appeals court rejected its attempt to block the launch.<br /><br />The potential for copycats to take business from original biotech drug brands is increasingly grabbing investors’ attention, although uncertainties remain as to how quickly so-called biosimilars will win business.<br /><br />Biosimilars have been on the market in Europe since 2006. <br />However, the US regulatory pathway for biosimilars, which are made in living cells and can never be exact replicas of originals, was only established by a healthcare reform in 2010. The arrival of biosimilars threatens companies heavily reliant on biotech drugs, such as Amgen, AbbVie and Roche, and Citigroup analysts have predicted a transfer of at least $110 billion of value from innovator companies to copycat producers in the next decade.<br /><br />Novartis did not immediately announce the price it would charge for Zarxio in the United States.<br /><br />Neupogen is a $1.2 billion-a-year medicine for Amgen that boosts white blood cell counts to fight infections in cancer patients.<br /><br />Insurers hope biosimilars will eventually cost the public 40 per cent to 50 per cent less than the original brands.</p>