Humira’s dominance continues as the world’s top-selling prescription product as the biologic therapy is the first drug to exceed $20 billion in annual global sales.
Shares of South Korea-based Celltrion were down more than 5 percent after the company announced it received a warning letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after the regulatory agency inspected a company drug manufacturing facility.
Swiss-based Novartis is showcasing four key drugs from the company’s late stage pipeline at an R&D and investor event in England.
The FDA approved Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals’ Cyltezo, a biosimilar to Humira, in a pre-filled syringe for treating chronic inflammatory diseases.
Just like 2016 and the year before, specialty drugs dominate the 2017 list of top performers in the most recent first year after launch class.
The Novartis copy of Amgen’s blockbuster drug Enbrel will not go on sale until at least 2018 because of the U.S. company’s patent protection challenge.
Pfizer will begin shipping its biosimilar version of J&J’s rheumatoid arthritis drug Remicade in late November 2016 at a 15% discount to current wholesale prices.