On February 3rd, FDA announced several new actions as part of its Biosimilars Action Plan (BAP). If you recall, back in July 2018 when FDA first unveiled the BAP, four key elements were identified: improving efficiency of biosimilar and interchangeable product development; maximizing scientific and …
As we move in to 2020, FDA is fastidiously preparing for the event 10 years in the making: the transition. For those of you unfamiliar with the “transition,” it refers to the “deemed to be a license” provision of the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation …
Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. is pleased to publish this second issue of the FDA Law Alert, a newsletter highlighting key postings from our nationally acclaimed FDA Law Blog. Please subscribe to the FDA Law Blog to receive contemporaneous posts on government regulatory and enforcement …
FDA recently finalized its guidance document intended to assist protein biosimilar manufacturers in demonstrating interchangeability, Considerations in Demonstrating Interchangeability With a Reference Product. Interchangeability, as of now, is nothing more than a pipe dream; no biosimilar has been declared interchangeable and therefore fully substitutable for …
As FDA continues to approve biosimilar drug products, and as sponsors participate – or rather choose not to participate – in the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (“BPCIA”) version of the patent dance, more questions arise about the remedies reference product sponsors have when …
Ok, Tom, I think I can name that biosimilar in four letters! Added on to the suffix! And let’s make it interesting: it’s an interchangeable. As a follow-up to its 2017 Guidance for Industry: Nonproprietary Naming of Biological Products, FDA issued a new draft guidance filling …
At the end of a calendar year in DC, we expect to see a few flurries. Maybe some light snow, but definitely flurries of regulatory activity. December is often rich with FDA publications, specifically warning letters and guidance documents. And things have not changed this …
Last week, the President signed into law a bill that gives the FTC greater authority to police agreements between biologic license holders and biosimilar applicants – so-called “pay-for-delay” settlements. The FTC has been focused on these settlements in the pharmaceutical space for years, but until now …
An interesting Citizen Petition popped up earlier this week in which pharma giant Pfizer has requested FDA guidance on sponsor communications about biosimilar products. This is not a new campaign for Pfizer, who has emphasized the need to address anticompetitive exclusionary practices, “misinformation,” and market …
Last month, Representatives John Sarbanes (D-MD) and Bill Johnson (R-OH) introduced H.R. 6478, the “Biosimilars Competition Act of 2018.” The bill would amend the Public Health Service Act (“PHS Act”) to require that certain agreements between biosimilar applicants and reference product sponsors be reported to …
Just like last year when it held a public hearing and rolled out the Generic Drug Action Plan, FDA is following its recent announcement of the Biosimilar Action Plan with a Public Hearing on competition in the biologics market entitled Facilitating Competition and Innovation in …
Though the pace of biosimilar approval has quickened substantially over the last year (with 6 approvals since this time last year alone), the biosimilar market remains sparse and slow. Unsurprisingly, FDA has noticed. This week, FDA unveiled a Biosimilars Action Plan (BAP) aimed at speeding …
By Michelle L. Butler & Eliot Markman* – On July 4, 2018, 2017 ME S 432, titled “An Act To Require Drug Manufacturers To Comply with Federal Law” (the “Act”), became law without Maine Governor Paul LePage’s signature. The Act amends 32 M.R.S.A. § 13702-A and …
We have the technology. It will definitely cost more than six million dollars, and there are questions about whether it will be better than it was before. But Dr. Sarfaraz Niazi thinks he can rebuild the biosimilar approval process to make it more efficient. In an …
Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C.’s Mark I. Schwartz will be presenting on the Regulation of Biological Manufacturing at the Food and Drug Law Institute's (“FDLI’s”) Introduction to U.S. Biologics and Biosimilars Law and Regulation course, which is scheduled to take place from October 4-5, 2017 in Washington, …
