Leaders in Pharmaceutical Business Intelligence Group, LLC, Doing Business As LPBI Group, Newton, MA

Biosimilars: Intellectual Property Creation and Protection by Pioneer and by Biosimilar Manufacturers

Curator: Aviva Lev-Ari, PhD, RN

UPDATED on 5/19/2023

The state of biosimilars in 2023

by Davide Savenije, Editor-in-Chief at Industry Dive

Although the U.S biosimilars market has fallen short of expectations since its first product approval in 2015, more have poured onto the market after a slow start. Greater price competition could emerge as more biosimilars of each drug begin to launch.

INCLUDED IN THIS TRENDLINE

• Big pharma’s looming threat: a patent cliff of ‘tectonic magnitude’
• AbbVie weathers first months of biosimilar challenge to top-selling Humira
• Acquired patents aid J&J defense of top-selling drug from biosimilar challenge

Our Trendlines go deep on the biggest trends. These special reports, produced by our team of award-winning journalists, help business leaders understand how their industries are changing.

SOURCE

https://www.biopharmadive.com/trendline/biosimilars/47/?utm_source=BP&utm_medium=Library&utm_campaign=ThermoFisher&utm_term=BioPharma%20Dive

For Financial Aspects of Biosimilars, go to:

Biosimilars: Financials 2012 vs. 2008

http://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2012/07/30/biosimilars-financials-2012-vs-2008/

For CMC and Regulatory Affairs of Biosimilars, go to:

Biosimilars: CMC Issues and Regulatory Requirements

http://pharmaceuticalintelligence.com/2012/07/29/biosimilars-cmc-issues-and-regulatory-requirements/

In this post we focus on the Legal Scene of Intellectual Property Creation & Protection by Pioneer & by Biosimilar Manufacturers.

The regulatory pathway for biosimilars has an impact on biopharma R&D, M&A and valuation of companies and products. Industry and investors were uncertain if biosimilar will be approved, the impact a new biosimilar will have on rate of return and sales of pioneer innovators which are big pharma with dedicated divisions to biosimilars as well as on new entrants as biosimilar manufacturers.

Biosimilars, aka biogeneric, biocomparable or follow-on biologic are different than traditional pharmaceuticals, aka small molecules produced by chemical reactions, subjected to generic competition. Biosimilars include proteins produced by genetically engineered organisms, have not been challenged by generic competion.The generic  competition provisions of the Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 (Hatch-Waxman Act) apply to products approved under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which include small molecule pharmaceuticals, but not to products approved under the Public Health Service Act, which include biologics.

It is estimated that, within a few years, biologics will be half of the biopharmaceutical market. As a result there have been mounting calls for a biosimilar pathway for companies obtaining Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of generic versions of existing biologics based upon lesser showings of safety and efficacy than is required for a pioneer biologic.

Like Hatch-Waxman Act for generic drugs, The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) aka Biosimilar Act of 2009  (1) establishes standards for application and approval; (2) provides a term of data exclusivity; and (3) establishes a scheme for handling patent disputes. The similarities, however, end with these broad constructs, as the details involved with each are quite different.

Patent Disclosure Requirements

The Biosimilar Act imposes completely new disclosure requirements for patents that are demanding and time-sensitive, and it imposes these requirements on both pioneer and biosimilar manufacturers. These requirements will be required after submission of a biosimilar application and will demand sophisticated legal counseling and planning. These requirements are as follows:

• The biosimilar applicant must provide a copy of the application to the pioneer manufacturer (reference product sponsor) within 20 days of being notified that its application has been accepted by the FDA.

• The pioneer manufacturer must provide the applicant with a list of patents that it believes “could reasonably be asserted” with respect to the pioneer product within 60 days of receiving a copy of the application. The list must identify which patents the pioneer manufacturer would be prepared to license to the biosimilar applicant.

• The biosimilar applicant must provide the pioneer manufacturer with a detailed statement describing its opinion that any patent listed is invalid, unenforceable, or will not be infringed by the commercial marketing of the biosimilar, or a statement that it does not intend to begin commercial marketing of the biosimilar before the expiration of the listed patent(s), within 60 days of receiving the list of patents.

• The pioneer manufacturer must provide the biosimilar applicant with a detailed statement describing its opinion that its patent(s) will be infringed by the biosimilar, as well as a response concerning the validity and enforceability of its patent(s) within 60 days of receiving the biosimilar applicant’s detailed statement.

• The biosimilar applicant must notify the pioneer manufacturer 180 days before the first commercial marketing of the biosimilar. The pioneer manufacturer may then seek a preliminary injunction.

After these required exchanges, the act requires good faith negotiations by the parties to agree on which patents will be the subject of any infringement action. Within 30 days of either agreeing on this list of patents, or exchanging each party’s final list of patents, the pioneer manufacturer must bring an infringement action. The pioneer manufacturer also has 30 days to amend this list after the issuance, or exclusive licensing, of a new patent that it believes is infringed by the biosimilar. If the pioneer manufacturer prevails in this action before approval of the biosimilar, the court must enter a permanent injunction prohibiting further infringement.

Failure to bring an infringement action within the 30-day mandate (or bringing an infringement action that was dismissed without prejudice or was not prosecuted to judgment in good faith) will result in the available remedy being limited to a reasonable royalty only. Finally, failure by the pioneer manufacturer to timely include a relevant patent in the exchanged list will preclude the pioneer manufacturer from later bringing an infringement action against the biosimilar applicant with respect to that undisclosed patent.

Intellectual Property Considerations

As a result, it is feasible that a biosimilar may be similar enough to qualify as a biosimilar under the Biosimilar Act but not similar enough to be covered by a patent claim. Accordingly, pioneer manufacturers should take care in obtaining valid claims that afford broad patent protection of their biologics. To do so, pioneer manufacturers should consider, for example, protecting not only the biologic itself but also, if possible, the target molecule(s) of the biologic, methods of use and methods of production. In addition, pioneer manufacturers should also contemplate how their biologics may be modified and consider obtaining patent protection for those modifications. While this is generally a common practice in patent law, it has been less important in pharamceuticals, where the focus has been on the patents that protect the drug itself rather than methods of its manufacture, and on obtaining protection from a generic (a bioequivalent drug, rather than a less equivalent drug that could treat the same condition).

Biosimilar manufacturers, on the other hand, should analyse how the pioneer’s biologic is protected by one or more patents and consider how they may be able to escape patent protection. Biosimilar manufacturers should also be careful of what admissions they make in regard to what is and is not equivalent in an application under the Biosimilar Act. Such admissions may be considered by manufacturers of the pioneer biologic for possible infringement positions. Under the Biosimilar Act, there is a certain amount of protection afforded through data exclusivity for a pioneer biologic. Pioneer biologic manufacturers, however, should not solely rely on this period of exclusivity for protection. Not only may patent protection go beyond the protection afforded by the data exclusivity period for a pioneer biologic, but an additional data exclusivity period may not be available under the Biosimilar Act. As a result, it is important for pioneer manufacturers to consider obtaining patent protection for improvements to their pioneer biologic.

Likewise, biosimilar manufacturers should also seek patent protection for their biosimilars and improvements to them, and consider the pioneer biologic and associated patents in doing so. Patent protection may be available for biosimilar biologics even when data exclusivity under the new act is not. In regard to the patent disclosure requirements, the scheme of the new act appears to avoid many of the problems that have arisen under the Hatch-Waxman Act for generic pharmaceuticals, such as the numerous issues regarding the requirement to list relevant patents in the Orange Book.

However, the completely new patent disclosure scheme for biosimilars will take years for the FDA and the courts to sort out. In the end, it may very well be more burdensome on the  parties than the Hatch-Waxman Act, which has spawned a tremendous amount of litigation. At the very least, the patent provisions of the Biosimilar Act establish demanding and time-sensitive disclosure requirements for both the pioneer and biosimilar applicant. Given the detail required and the complexity of the issues, both parties should conduct the necessary investigation and analysis well before a biosimilar application could be filed. Some steps that may be taken include: identifying all relevant patents, determining expiration dates and potential patent term extensions, and identifying patent owners and licenses. Based on the investigation and analysis, both parties should develop detailed infringement, validity, and enforceability positions before receiving the other party’s patent list or positions. Failing to take early action will likely result in a party rushing to prepare the very detailed statements required by the law for both parties, running the serious risk of making a potentially determinative mistake. Both parties also face penalties for failing to comply with the disclosure requirements.

In all, it will be important for pioneer and biosimilar manufacturers to fully understand their patent portfolios as well as those of their competitors and to review these portfolios regularly. The requirements of the Biosimilar Act will necessitate sophisticated and extensive legal counseling, active portfolio diligence, and time-sensitivity

http://www.wolfgreenfield.com/files/2426_biosimilars_2_final_pdf.pdf

http://www.managingip.com/Article/3047226/Search/An-overview-and-update-on-biosimilars.html?Home=true&Keywords=Biosimilars&Brand=Site&tabSelected=True

Greater clarity in the biopharma and pharma market place was achieved on June 28, 2012 when the US Supreme Court has upheld ObamaCare, ensuing that the pathway for biosimilars included with the law will remain intact.

The US paved the way for biosimilar approval in 2012 as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). A major element of the healthcare reform law is The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) aka Biosimilar Act of 2009 provision of that bill said that biological products that are demonstrated to be highly similar (biosimilar) to or interchangeable with an FDA-licensed biological product may be approved under an abbreviated pathway similar to the process for small molecule generics.

With the upheld ObamaCare, critical parts of the PPACA constitutional, and with it the BPCIA giving the FDA authority to approve biosimilars.

Had the PPACA been stricken in part or in its entirety, it would have presented obstacles to the BPCIA surviving in its present form. The US government has been critical of the 12-year data exclusivity period for Pioneer Innovators, calling for it to be shortened to 7 years (12 years is favorable to Pioneer Innovators and less favorable for Biosimilar manufacturers). The upheld ObamaCare, PPACA and BPCIA, constitutional, has prevented a multiyear delay in biosimilar approval. Thus, it was the best scenario for the biologics industry.

BPCIA provides the approval of biological products as biosimilar or interchangeable (BPCIA 351(k)). As part of the FDA’s approval process, biosimilar products would need to produce the same clinical effect and if a multi-dose product, not present any greater safety or efficacy risk to patients in switching from the reference product. There would have to be “clinically meaningful differences” between the pioneer biologic reference product and the biosimilar product in order to gain FDA approval.

Congress granted the FDA flexibility for approval standards for biosimilars, i.e., what type of clinical studies required, what differences in approval process from biologics license applications (BLA) are appropriate.

1. Pioneer inventors are granted 12 years of data exclusivity, barring FDA approval of a 351 (k) application from “the date on which the reference product was first licensed”

2. An application can’t be submitted to the FDA until 4 years after the date on which the BLA for the reference product was first granted.

3. FDA sets approval requirements unless FDA waives them: analytical studies demonstrating the biosimilar is highly similar to the reference product, animal studies, a clinical study sufficient to demonstrate safety, purity, potency, same mechanism of action, route of administration, dosage form and strength.

Hatch-Waxman Act for generic drugs patent challenge provisions are different from BPCIA‘s patent challenge provisions.

• BPCIA require “negotiation” of patent disputes and exchanges of patent information between parties prior to instituting patent litigation.
• BPCIA mandates risk evaluation and mitigation strategy (“REMS”) requirements, shall apply to biosimilars as they do to reference pioneer biologic.
• Reimbursemwnt for biosimilars is set at Average  Sales Price (ASP) plus 6% of the amount determined for the amount determined for the reference pioneer biologic.
• BPCIA allows for imposition of user fees to review biosimilars
• Naming biosimilars: generic vs. proprietary naming requirements for drug safety and/or recalls, tracking adverse events,  as well as reimbursement
• Unanswered, if a biosimilar applicant needs to provide data on al approved indications of the reference product, and can a biosimilar be better than a reference product (i.e., “biobetters”), if so in what way (e.g., safety or efficacy).

On 2/9/2012 – FDA issued 3 draft guidance documents intended to facilitate the submission of marketing applications for biosimilars

1.  Biosimilars Q&A: provide guidance on the content of 351(k) applications. Recommendations that sponsors meet early with FDA to discuss plans. Guidance sets out the FDA’s current view that comparative animal or clinical data developed using non-US-licensed product can provide evidence that proposed product is biosimilar to a US-licensed reference product.

2. Biosimilars Scientific Guidance – three approaches to establish demonstrated biosimilarity.

a.  “stepwise” approach comparison of proposed product with reference product with respect to structure, function, animal toxicity, human pharmacokinetics (PK) and pharmacodynamics (PD), cinical immunogenicity, and clinical safety and effectiveness.

b.  “totality-of-the-evidence” approach

c.  “general scientific principles” in conducting comparative structural and functional analysis, animal testing, human PK and PD studies, clinical immunogenicity assessment and clinicall safety and effectiveness studies (study design issues)

3.  Biosimilar Quality Guidance provides directions on analytical studies assessing if the proposed biosimilar protein product and the reference product are “highly similar” Guidance suggests that there may be an opportunity for pioneer innovators to argue that current technology does not permit for demonstration of  “biosimilarity” of a potentially competitive product in a manner adequate to gain approval under 351(k), thus necessitating the filing of full BLA.

Outstanding issues under BPCIA’s provisions related to marketing and development could affect biopharma investment:

1.  effects on coverage and reimbursement of the pioneer biologic based on approval of a biosimilar, reimbursement of biosimilars themselves

2. biosimilars and not expressly treated in the new act under Medicare Part B, Medicare Drug Pricing Program, Medicaid, 340B program.

3. non clear is biosimilars will constitute “multi-source drugs.”

Unlike the generic drugs market, the biosimilars market is likely to have a smaller number of entrants, greater costs of applications and testing, less reduction in price from that of a pioneer biologic and necessity of marketing staff.

It is unclear when the cost of the drug will become a switching factor in purchasing a biosimilar. purchaser resistance  note withstanding price advantage did occur in the past. There eexist potential purchaser/payor concerns regarding interchangeability, safety, efficacy (i.e., potency). There is concern over evergreening strategy by pioneer inventors to use drug modifications to extend the exclusivity period thus, deterring the entrance of biosimilars.

In June 2011, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and FDA issued a joint report noting the interactions between the two agencies, when a biosimilar version of a mococlonal antibody, Remicade was filed in the EU.

Defining Protein Therapeutics

http://www.genengnews.com/insight-and-intelligenceand153/what-will-fda-biosimilars-guidelines-mean-for-industry/77899555/

More than a year after launching a dialogue with industry regarding biosimilars, FDA is holding a morning-long public meeting today. The proposed approval pathway and fees drug developers must pay for the five fiscal years starting October 1, 2012, will be discussed. The agency is soliciting public comment through January 6, 2012

Those comments are expected to shape a final FDA recommendation on biosimilar user fees, which the agency plans to send to Congress by January 15, 2012. On December 7, the agency published “Biosimilar Biological Product Authorization Performance Goals and Procedures, Fiscal Years 2013 through 2017.”

The user fee program is expected to aid FDA in developing the final abbreviated approval pathway for biosimilars, which was required under the Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA) of 2009. BPCIA was tucked into page 686 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act enacted last year by President Obama. Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research co-authored a paper published this August in The New England Journal of Medicine that provided some clues on the overall approval pathway.

http://www.genengnews.com/insight-and-intelligenceand153/fda-holds-public-discussion-of-user-fee-program-for-biosimilars/77899515/

The initial fee would be 10% of the fee established for a drug application under PDUFA each year from FY 2013 through 2017. The agency would collect only one initial BPD fee per product, regardless of the number of proposed indications.

Sponsors that submit marketing applications would pay fees equal to those established for drug applications under PDUFA minus the cumulative amount of BPD fees. Under PDUFA, 2012 fees for drug products go up as high as $1.84 million.

“By providing FDA with these resources, they would be able to meet with sponsors, provide clear and established guidelines for regulatory action, and as a result that should reduce the barriers to market entry even more than what would be represented through a modest fee like this,” Emmett said. Since established biopharma companies are more likely to produce biosimilars than early-stage companies, “I wouldn’t anticipate that $180,000 would be a significant barrier to market,” Emmett added.

“FDA anticipates a modest level of funding from these sources initially because only biosimilar biological products that are approved for marketing would be subject to these fees,” the agency said.

http://www.genengnews.com/insight-and-intelligenceand153/fda-holds-public-discussion-of-user-fee-program-for-biosimilars/77899515/

Biosimilars and Follow-On Branded Biologics

Promoting Innovation and Access to Life-Saving Medicine Act (H.R.1427, a bill from the first session of the 111th Congress) and the FTC’s report titled Emerging Health Care Issues: Follow-on Biologic Drug Competition are intended to provide the rationale for moving access to biosimilars/follow-on biologics and driving the legislative compromise. Of particular interest is the FTC’s projection of what cost savings (10–30%) will actually be achieved, and that the originator biologic manufacturer may likely retain 90% of its market.

When a new human growth hormone (hGH) product tried to compete with  Genentech’s hGH, physicians hesitated to move patients on to it, so its market was just new patients. If there is only a 10–30% price differential for biosimilar/follow-on biologics and they lack an AB substitutability rating, one would anticipate the same reluctance to switch patients.

http://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/biosimilars-and-follow-on-branded-biologics/2981/?page=2

Draft Guidance for Industry and FDA Staff: Technical Considerations for Pen, Jet and Related Injectors Intended for Use with Drugs and Biological Products, April 2009.) The Guidance recognizes that these are innovative approaches to deliver drugs or biologics products that may enhance accuracy and patient compliance.

One major significant issue of this Guidance lies in its application to biosimilars, facilitating their conversion into higher-value follow-on branded products. As an example, Novo Nordisk is now introducing its next-generation FlexPen, a prefilled insulin delivery device that the company reports has a 25–41% lower force than the existing SoloStar and KwikPen devices; diabetic patients prefer lower-force insulin injections since they are less painful.

After obtaining FDA approval to market in the U.S., a first-generation biologic may have little commercial value as a commodity product and have a BX rating (not substitutable), since most biopharma companies have developed a second- or third-generation biologic with an innovative delivery system—a specialty product. It is anticipated that specialty products will command prices near or only 10–20% less than that of the originator product, even though they will not have a BX rating. In this scenario, the initial approval of the first-generation biosimilar is really a strategy to rapidly enter the marketplace, then quickly evolve into a higher-value specialty, often called a follow-on branded product.

http://www.genengnews.com/gen-articles/biosimilars-and-follow-on-branded-biologics/2981/

CMC Issues and Regulatory Requirements for Biosimilars

Dr. Bao-Lu has exposed very important CMC Issues and Regulatory Requirements for Biosimilars in

http://www.tbiweb.org/tbi/file_dir/TBI2009/Bao-lu%20Chen.pdf

We anticipate the package for a biosimilars approval in the US will be similar to that in the EU and contain a full quality dossier with a comparability program including detailed product characterization comparison and reduced preclinical and clinical requirements.

Biosimilars Become Inevitable

Biologics developed through biotechnology constitute an essential part of the pipeline for medicines available to patients today. Biologic drugs are quite expensive and many of them are top-selling medicines (see Table 1). Since they come at extremely high prices to consumers, some patients may not be able to afford the use of biologics as the best-available treatments to their conditions. The patent protection on a large number of biologics has expired since 2001. These off-patent biologics include Neupogen, Novolin, Protropin, Activase, Epogen or Procrit, Nutropin, Humatrope, Avonex, Intron A, and Humulin. Traditionally, when a drug patent expires, a generic drug will be quickly developed and marketed. Similarly, generic version of off-patent biologic drugs (also referred to biosimilars or follow-on biologics or biogenerics) represents an extraordinary opportunity to companies that want to seize the potentially great commercial rewards in this unexploited territory. Biosimilars not only benefit the biosimilar manufacturers but also can save patients, and insurance companies, substantial cost and allow patients to gain access to more affordable biologics resulting in market expansion. The government can use biosimilars to reduce healthcare costs. Therefore, development and marketing of bosimilars are supported by both manufacturers and consumers.

Differences between Generic Drugs and Biosimilars

Enacted in 1984, the US Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act, informally known as the “Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984” standardized US procedures for an abbreviated pathway for the approval of small-molecule generic drugs. The generic drug approval

is based on “sameness”. In comparison to the innovator’s drug, a generic drug is a product that has the same active ingredient, identical in dose, strength, route of administration, safety, efficacy, and intended use. For approval, the generic companies can go through the Abbreviated

New Drug Application (ANDA) process with reduced requirement in comparison to approval for a new drug entity. The generic drugs need to show bioequivalence to the innovator drugs typically based on pharmacokinetic parameters such as the rate of absorption or bioavailability in 24 to 36 healthy volunteers. No large clinical trials for safety and efficacy are required. The generic companies can rely on the FDA’s previous findings of safety and effectiveness of the innovator’s drugs.

However, the abbreviated pathway for generic drugs legally doesn’t apply to biologics as small-molecule drugs and biologics are regulated under different laws and approved through different pathways in the US (Table 2). Small-molecule drugs are regulated under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C) and require submission of a New Drug Application (NDA) to FDA for drug review and approval. Biologics are regulated under the Public Health Service Act (PHS) and require submission of a Biologic License Application (BLA) to FDA for review and approval. The Hatch-Waxman Act of 1984 doesn’t apply for biosimilars. New laws are needed to establish a pathway for biosimilar approval.

There are some crucial differences between biologics and small-molecule drugs. Small-molecule drugs are made from chemical synthesis. They are not sensitive to process changes. The final product of a small-molecule drug can be fully characterized. The developmentand production of generic drugs are relatively straightforward. Biologics are made from living organisms so that its functional-, efficacy- and safety-related properties depend on its manufacturing and processing conditions. They are sensitive to process changes. Even minor modifications of the manufacturing process can cause variations in important properties of a biological product. Thus it is believed that a biologic product is defined by its manufacturing process. Biologics are 100- or 1,000-fold larger than small-molecule drugs, possess sophisticated three-dimensional structures, and contain mixtures of protein isoforms. A biological product is a heterogeneous mixture and the current analytical methods cannot characterize these complex molecules sufficiently to confirm structural equivalence with the reference biologics.

Laws and Regulatory Pathways for Drug Approval in the US

Law/Application             Small-molecule            Drug Biologics                     

Law             Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C)             Public Health Service Act (PHS)

Drug application   New Drug Application (NDA)   Biologic License Application (BLA)

Generic application   Abbreviated New Drug Application(ANDA)   NEW pathways beyond BPCIA, 2009

Differences between small-molecule drugs and biologics

Product characteristics

Small-molecule generics Small, simple molecule

(Molecular weight: 100-1,000 Da)

Biosimilars   Large, complex molecules, Higher order structures, Post-translational, modifications

(Molecular weight: 15,000-150,000 Da)

Production

Small-molecule generics Produced by chemical synthesis

Biosimilars  Produced in living organisms

Analytical testing

Small-molecule  Well-defined chemical structure, all its various components in the finished drug can be determined

Biosimilars  Heterogeneous mixture, difficult to characterize, some of the components of a finished biologic may be unknown

Process dependence

Small-molecule   Not sensitive to manufacturing process changes. The finished product can be analyzed to establish the sameness.

Biosimilars   Sensitive to minor changes in manufacturing process. The product is defined by the process

Identity and purity

Small-molecule Often meeting pharmacopeia or other standards of identity (e.g., minimums for purity and potency)

Biosimilars   Most have no pharmacopeia monographs

immunogenicity issues prior to 1998. When J&J made a change in the Eprex formulation by replacing human serum albumin (HAS) with polysobate 80 and glycine in response to the

request from European health authorities, some patients developed pure red-cell aplasia (PRCA), a severe form of anemia. Eprex induced antibodies neutralize all the exogenous rHuEPO and cross-react with endogenous erythropoietic proteins. As a result, serum EPO is undetectable

and erythropoiesis becomes ineffective. Upon investigation, J&J found that polysorbate 80 might have caused uncoated rubber stoppers in single-use Eprex syringes to leach plasticizers, which stimulated an immune response that resulted in PRCA. Replacing with Teflon coated stoppers resulted in 90% decrease in PRCA by 2003 [3,4]. The effect of neutralizing antibodies has not always resulted in serious clinical consequences. Three interferon beta products, Betaseron, Rebif and Avonex, are marketed by three different companies. These products induce neutralizing antibodies in multiple sclerosis patients from 5 to 50% after one year treatment. Although these antibodies might be associated with loss of efficacy of treatment resulting in some patients to withdraw from the treatment, it seems no other severe adverse effects were detected [5,6].

Regulatory Landscape

The US, the EU and Japan are the three cornerstonemembers of the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH), which intends to harmonize the regulatory requirements for drug or biologic approval in these three regions. With the other two members, the EU and Japan, already have established biosimilar approval procedures (see below), the US lags behind in the biosimilar race. There are no formal approval pathways for biosimilars in the US. Congress needs to establish a legal framework in order for FDA to develop guidelines. Legislation has been under discussion in Congress since 2007. The legislative debate is centered on patient safety and preserving incentives to innovate with introduction of biosimilars. Two bills introduced in March 2009 deserve attentions [7,8]. The Waxman bill (H.R. 1427) proposes 5 years of market exclusivity to the innovator companies and requires no clinical trials for biosimilar development. The Eshoo bill (H.R. 1548) proposes 12 years of market exclusivity to the innovator companies and requires clinical trials for biosimilar development. Obama administration appears to favor a 7-year market exclusivity [9]. Once a legal framework is established for biosimilars, the FDA will likely take a conservative approach using the comparability as an approval principle. Clinical proof of efficacy and safety will be required, probably in reduced scale.

In the EU, the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) issued regulatory guidelines for approving biosimilars in 2005 (Figure 1) [10-16]. These include two general guidelines for quality issues [11] and non-clinical and clinical issues [12] and four class-specific annexes for specific data requirements for Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating factor (G-CSF) [13], Insulin [14], Growth hormone [15] and Erythropoietin [16]. In addition, a concept paper on interferon alpha [17] is also available. So far, there are eleven biosimilar products which received market authorization in the EU and they are biosimilar versions of human growth hormone, Epoetin and filgrastim. It is estimated six to eight years on average for a biosimilar to be developed [18].

The EMEA treats a biosimilar medicine as a medicine which is similar to a biological medicine that has already been authorized (the “biological reference medicine”) in the EU, The active substance of a biosimilar medicine is similar to the one of the biological reference medicine.

A biosimilar and the biological reference medicine are used in general at the same dose to treat the same disease. A biosimilar and the biological reference medicine are not automatically interchangeable because biosimilar and biological reference medicine are only similar but not identical. A physician or a qualified healthcare professional should make the decision to treat a patient with a reference or a biosimilar medicine. Since the biosimilar may contain different inactive ingredients, the name, appearance and packaging of a biosimilar medicine differ to those of the biological reference medicine. In addition, a pharmacovigilance plan must be in place for post-marketing safety monitoring.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare (MHLW) issued guidelines for follow-on proteins or biosimilars approval in March 2009. The first biosimilar, Sandoz’ growth hormone Somatropin, was approved in June 2009. The MHLW’s guidelines consider biosimilars drugs which are equivalent and homogeneous to the original biopharmaceuticals in terms of quality, efficacy and safety. Biosimilars are also requested to be developed with updated technologies and knowledge. Biosimilars need to demonstrate enough similarity to guarantee the safety and efficacy instead of absolute identity to the original biologics. Biosimilars’ regulatory approval applications will be categorized separately from conventional generic drugs. In general, the applications should be submitted, as the new drug applications, with data from clinical trials, manufacturing methods, long-term stability and information on overseas use. The MHLW will assess the data on absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) on a case-by-case basis. The applications do not need to provide data on accessory pharmacology, safety pharmacology and genotoxicity.

Biosmilars are already thriving in Eastern Europe and Asia, where regulatory and intellectual property (IP) standards for biosimilars are more liberal. Biosimilars developed in these regions are primarily sold domestically. These markets are considered less controlled. The quality of the biosimilars may not be in full compliance with ICH guidelines although they are often developed through comparative quality testing and clinical trials against the biologics which are already approved in Western countries

 Comparability Demonstration

 A comparability exercise based on the ICH guideline [22] needs to be performed to demonstrate that the biosimilar product and the reference biologic product have similar profiles with respect to product quality, safety, and efficacy. This is accomplished by comparative testing of the biosimilar product and the reference biologic product to demonstrate they have comparable molecular structure, in vitro and in vivo biological activities, pre-clinical safety and pharmacokinetics, and safety and efficacy in human patients. Comparison of quality attributes between the biosimilar and the reference biologic product employs physicochemical and biological characterization. Comparability on physical properties, amino acid sequence, high order structures, post-translationally modified forms are evaluated by physicochemical tests. In vitro receptor-binding or cell-based (binding) assays or even the in vivo potency studies in animals need to be performed to demonstrate comparable activity despite they are often imprecise. Levels of product related impurities (aggregates, oxidized forms, deamidated forms) and process related impurities and contaminants (host cell proteins, residual genomic DNA, reagents, downstream impurities) need to be assessed and quantified. Stability profiles of the biosimilar product and the reference biologic product also need to be studies by placing the products under stressed conditions. The rate of degradation and degradation profiles (oxidation, deamidation, aggregation and other degradation reactions) will be compared. If unknown degradation species are detected, they need to be studied to determine if they affect safety and efficacy. If differences on product purities and stability profiles are present between the biosimilar product and the reference biologic product, these differences need to be justified using scientific knowledge or preclinical or clinical studies. Changes in the impurity profile should be justified as well.

The demonstration of comparability in quality attributes does not necessarily mean that the biosimilars and the reference biologics are identical, but that they are highly similar. In many cases, the relationship between specific quality attributes and safety and efficacy has not been fully established. For example, physicochemical characterization cannot easily predict immunogenicity and slight changes in manufacturing processes or product composition can give rise to unpredicted changes in safety and efficacy. Changes in bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, bioactivity bioactivity, and immunogenicity are the main risks associated with the manufacturing of biosimilars. In vivo studies should be designed to measure the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics relevant to clinical studies. Such in vivo studies should be designed to detect response differences between the biosimilar and the reference biologic not just responses per se. In vivo studies of the biosimilar’s safety in animals may be used to research any concerns into the safety of the biosimilar in human patients. Although extensive clinical testing is not necessary for biosimilars, some degree of clinical testing is needed to establish therapeutic comparability on efficacy and safety between the biosimilar and the reference biologic product [23,24]. This includes using surrogate markers of specific biologic activity as endpoints for demonstrating efficacy, and showing that patients didn’t develop immunogenic responses to the product. In general, the approval of biosimilars will be based on the demonstration of comparable efficacy and safety to an innovator reference product in a relevant patient population. Clinical data requirement for each individual product will be different and will be determined on a case-by-case basis.

Small-molecule Generics versus Biosimilars

 Small-molecule

• Approval based on “sameness”

Biosimilars

• Approval based on “high similarity”

Small-molecule

• Replicate the innovator’s process and product and perform a bioavailability study demonstrating similar pharmacokinetic properties

Biosimilars

• Full CMC development with comparative testing, conduct substantial clinical trials for efficacy and safety including immunogenicity

Small-molecule

• Abbreviated registration procedures in Europe and US

Biosimilars

• Regulatory pathway is defined in EU on “Comparability” status, no pathway yet in US under BLA

Small-molecule

• Therapeutically equivalent, thus interchangeable

Biosimilars

• Lack of automatic substitutability

Small-molecule

• $1 to $5 million to develop

Biosimilars

• $100-$200 million to develop

Small-molecule

• Brand-to-generic competition

Biosimilars

• Brand-to-Brand competition

Conclusion

The patent provisions of the Biosimilar Act, 2009 establish demanding and time-sensitive disclosure requirements. ObamaCare upheld by the Supreme Court is a victory for future development of pathways for biosimilar regulatory approval and eventually biosimilar generic drugs.

Biosimilars are defined as biological products similar, but not identical, to the reference biological products that are submitted for separate marketing approval following patent expiration of the reference biological products. As one of the ICH members, the US needs to catch up with the EU and Japan as those two countries have already issued regulatory guidelines for biosimilars. 2009 and 2012 represent milestones in the regulatory provisions for biosimilars in the US.

Once Congress establishes a legal framework, FDA is expected to set up a biosimilar approval pathway which will be similar to those in the EU and Japan and harmonized under ICH. The biosimilar will need a full CMC development package plus demonstration of comparable quality attributes and comparable efficacy and safety to the innovator’s product. Table 5 provides a comparison summary between small-molecule generics and biosimilars. It will take a much bigger effort to develop a biosimilar than a generic drug. Automatic substitution between the innovator product and a biosimilar is not appropriate as a biosimilar is not a generic version of the innovator product and is approved based on comparability to the innovator product.

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