Therapeutic Class Archives - Page 63 of 65 - BioProcess InternationalBioProcess International

Plant on the Road to Remediation as Celltrion Resubmits Biosimilars

Celltrion has completed the resubmission of versions of Herceptin and Rituxan to the US FDA after receiving complete response letters for the two biosimilars in April. Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued complete response letters (CRLs) to South Korean drugmaker Celltrion for its rituximab and trastuzumab biosimilars. The letters cited a warning letter sent to the firm in January highlighting “multiple poor aseptic practices” at its production site in Songdo, Incheon. The firm resubmitted CT-P10, a proposed biosimilar…

Lack of Interchangeable Biosimilars Keeps J&J in the Infliximab Game

by Dan Stanton

While US infliximab biosimilars lack interchangeability approval, Remicade (infliximab) can continue to compete in an open market place, says Janssen. Pfizer launched its a biosimilar to Remicade (infliximab), Inflectra, in 2016. The following year, Samsung Bioepis/Merck & Co.’s Renflexis became the second direct threat to Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen’s blockbuster monoclonal antibody. But both products, while deemed by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be biosimilar to Remicade, have not been approved to be interchangeable with the…

Sanofi Inks $850m mRNA Vaccines Deal with Translate Bio

by Dan Stanton

Sanofi Pasteur has teamed with Translate Bio to develop messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines for up to five infectious disease pathogens. Under terms of the deal, French vaccine developer Sanofi Pasteur will make an upfront sum of US$45 million (€38 million) to Massachusetts-based firm Translate Bio but total payments could reach $850 million on the back of developmental milestones and royalties. The R&D for the undisclosed vaccine targets will be jointly conducted during an initial three-year period. mRNA vaccines work by…

Automated Tech Ups Hitachi’s Cell Therapy Interest

by BPI Staff

Recent entrant to the regenerative medicine space Hitachi Chemical has partnered with Invetech to commercialize the Counter-Flow Centrifugation system – an automated platform for cell therapy manufacturing. The partnership will allow customers of Hitachi Chemical Advanced Therapeutics Solutions (HCATS) to access Invetech’s Counter-Flow Centrifugation (CFC) system in the clinical and commercial manufacturing of cell-based therapies using closed single-use disposables. Hitachi entered the regenerative medicine space in 2017 through the $US75 million (€64 million) acquisition of cell therapy contract development and…

Dyadic to Develop Biosimilars Using CHO-Challenging Expression System

by Dan Stanton

Dyadic International has begun developing a pipeline of biosimilars using a fungal expression system it says achieves much higher productivity than CHO cell lines. Dyadic began looking to its enzyme production fungal expression technology for biopharmaceutical purposes in 2015 and has forged several sub-license and partnerships in the biologics space. But now the Florida-based firm has revealed it is set to develop its own biosimilar and biobetter pipeline using the expression system. “We began in earnest an R&D effort on…

First US Neulasta Biosimilar Approval on Second Try for Mylan

by Dan Stanton

The FDA has approved the first US biosimilar of Amgen’s cancer drug Neulasta (pegfilgrastim). Mylan’s Fulphila is the tenth biosimilar to be approved in the US. Mylan’s biosimilar, developed with Indian biomanufacturer Biocon, will launch Fulphilia in the coming weeks, spokesperson Julie Knell told BioProcess Insider. “Mylan is the first company to obtain approval for a biosimilar version of Neulasta in the US. Other manufacturers have sought licensure from the FDA but, to our knowledge, do not yet have approval.” She…

Biosimilar Bulletin: EU Success for Sandoz, Amgen Stumbles Stateside

by Dan Stanton

Sandoz says it will use a third-party manufacturer as its proposed Humira biosimilar receives recommendation in Europe. Meanwhile, the US FDA has rejected Amgen’s proposed Herceptin biosimilar. Last Friday, the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) recommended the approval of Halimatoz, Hefiya and Hyrimoz – all versions of AbbVie’s best-selling Mab Humira (adalimumab) submitted by Novartis subsidiary Sandoz. “To ensure the majority of eligible patients gain access to our biosimilar medicines as soon as possible,…

TxCell Opts for Lonza to Make CAR-Treg Clinical Batches

by BPI Staff

Lacking the resources to manufacture in-house, French biotech firm TxCell has chosen Lonza to produce its HLA-A2 CAR-Treg cellular product, TX200. In February, TxCell finalized its manufacturing process to make Tx200, and began transferring tech to its contract manufacturing organization (CMO). Now the French biotech has revealed the CMO is Lonza, which will manufacture clinical batches of the CAR-Treg product from its production site in Geleen, the Netherlands. TxCell CEO Stephane Boissel told Bioprocess Insider Lonza will produce Phase I/II…

Bavarian Nordic: Smallpox Vaccine Plant ‘Encouraged’ by US Government

by BPI Staff

Bavarian Nordic is constructing a US$75 million fill & finish facility in Denmark on the back of future US government contracts to supply smallpox vaccine Imvamune. Last September, the US government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded Danish vaccine manufacturer Bavarian Nordic a contract for the manufacturing and storage of its smallpox vaccine Imvamune. The deal, worth more than $539 million (€460 million), is the third such award to manufacture vaccine bulk to the US Department of Health…

Topical Herpes Virus-Based Gene Therapy Granted FDA Fast Track

by Dan Stanton

Krystal Biotech’s lead candidate has received FDA fast track designation for the treatment of dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB). The firm is building a GMP facility in Pennsylvania to support future scale-up. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted fast track designation to KB103, a topically-applied gene therapy engineered to deliver a human collagen protein to patients suffering from DEB. The designation will help expedite the development and review process of the allogeneic gene therapy, and is a boost for…