Preview: Amgen’s Slow Road to Profits

Amgen Inc. made history last month when its drug Mvasi became the first biosimilar for cancer approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Mvasi is a copycat of Avastin, one of the bestselling biologic drugs in the world, with reported sales of more than $3 billion last year. But it’s doubtful Mvasi will get a piece of that action any time soon. Amgen is currently tied up in litigation brought on by the manufacturer of Avastin, Genentech Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Roche Holding AG. In a complaint filed in February, Genentech said Amgen has failed to provide manufacturing information about Mvasi to the company, which is required by law. Despite the sluggish go-to-market process, Amgen remains hopeful about biosimilars. Read the full story in the Oct. 2 issue of the San Fernando Valley Business Journal.