April 19, 2024

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Korean biopharmaceutical firm Samsung Bioepis said on March 5 it has won approval from European authorities for the sale of mass dosages of its biosimilar drug Ontruzant.

The European Medicines Agency accepted Samsung Bioepis’ application to sell the 420 mg biosimilar product referencing Switzerland-based Roche Holding‘s Herceptin, also known as Trastuzumab, the company said.
 

The 150 mg product was approved by the EMA in Nov. 2017, which allowed Samsung Bioepis to sell the product in 28 EU member states, as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, according to the company.

Ontruzant is designed to treat early-stage breast cancer, metastatic breast cancer and metastatic gastric cancer.

“There is demand for both 150 mg and 420 mg products in Europe,” a company official, who asked not to be named, said. “We expect to provide more treatment opportunities for patients by expanding our product portfolio.”

Samsung Bioepis was established in 2012 in a joint venture between Samsung Biologics and Biogen Samsung BioLogics is a biopharmaceutical unit of Korea’s top conglomerate, Samsung Group.

The market for biosimilars has grown in recent years as they are provided to customers at discounts. Biosimilars are officially approved copycat medicines developed after patents for the original biopharmaceuticals expire.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)