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FDA: An Honest Broker on the Slow Path to Biosimilars

FDA Matters‘ enthusiasm for biosimilars is a matter of public record. The market will build slowly, but 10 years from now the new law will be seen as ushering in a new age of biopharmaceutical product development. FDA will present the next glimpse of the future on November 2 and 3, 2010, when it holds hearings on implementing the new approval pathway.

The key to the future will be the FDA’s strong commitment to expanding prescriber and patient choice among biological products. FDA will be satisfied (and successful) if the new law stimulates biosimilars, bio-betters, and innovative new biological products, along with a dramatic increase in knowledge about the nature and characterization of biologic products.

Misunderstandings abound about the new law and how it is likely to reshape the biopharmaceutical landscape. Experts keep saying that innovator (reference) products have been granted 12 years of market exclusivity. Reading the sentences carefully, data exclusivity prevents biosimilar products from being approved through the new abbreviated biosimilars pathway for 12 years. It does not prevent approval of a biosimilar through a traditional biological license application (BLA).

There is also the perception that the biosimilars market will be limited to billion-dollar products and a few companies that have the capital to enter the marketplace. Despite this view, there are at least five or six companies ready to advance biosimilar and bio-better products over the next few years. More will come.

Over time, innovation will bring costs down and significantly lower barriers to market entry. Competition will bring prices down to competitive levels. Discounts may not be as low as those in the generic drug market, but significant savings will result from 20% to 30% discounts on drugs costing $50,000 per year and more.

We are told many things about the agency: it is going to lower standards, be extremely cautious, fail to develop adequate guidance for industry or proceed with no ground rules, etc. Passage of Hatch-Waxman 26 years ago elicited similar concerns. A quarter century later, that law has resulted in 70% of US prescriptions being filled with generic drugs.

The path to a more vigorous biopharmaceuticals market will not be easy. The law is not well-written and the patent provisions seem an additional barrier. FDA will be very cautious about the new approval pathway, but it may look favorably on biosimilars submitted as BLA’s. Although I don’t agree, it has been suggested that even a single serious safety problem for an approved biosimilar will kill the market. Also, at least one reimbursement expert has told me that a biosimilars market may never emerge because doctors lack financial incentives to use these products.

The Federal Register notice for next week’s FDA hearings lists a careful series of questions upon which the agency wants comment. At the hearings, expect little, if any, feedback from FDA. They won’t ask many questions either. At the risk of leaving everyone guessing, the agency will keep its own counsel, determined to be an honest broker among competing interests.

Guidances and regulations take years to develop and publish. FDA will proceed carefully and consistent with its public responsibilities. The impact will not be measured by how many products come through the new abbreviated pathway (perhaps not many) or how many products are deemed “interchangeable” (maybe none).

FDA’s ultimate success will be the broad expansion of biopharmaceutical products. This will happen eventually, but patience will be required.

Steven

Background on the FDA hearing on biosimilars:

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-24853.pdf

Information if you want to attend the hearing or watch the webcast:

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/NewsEvents/ucm221688.htm

Data Exclusivity and Bio-Similars: Both More and Less Than It Seems

May 2nd, 2010

FDA Matters has been very upbeat about the prospects for the bio-similar marketplace. With this in mind, this column explores why there is a persistent belief that the bio-pharmaceutical industry got something better than data exclusivity. I also explore whether data exclusivity will really provide valuable protection for original reference biologic products. Read the rest of this entry »

Follow-on Biologics: 1-2-3-GO

March 21st, 2010

The long fight is over for follow-on biologic (FOBs). The world of biopharmaceuticals will never be the same, but not in the ways that many players expect. Here is FDA Matters’ guide to understanding the next phase. Read the rest of this entry »

The Follow-on Biologics Market

Since the debate began several years ago, the policy and politics of follow-on biologics (FOB) have been driven by assumptions and projections of the anticipated market. FDA Matters believes there has been a lot of fuzzy thinking about what type of companies will be players and how they will position themselves. The Federal Trade Commission report, released last week, is just the latest illustration. Read the rest of this entry »

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