Amgen, Allergan Launch Cancer Biosimilars in U.S. Market

Thousand Oaks-based Amgen Inc. and Allergan plc, headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, on Friday announced two biosimilar drugs for cancer treatment which the companies co-developed are now for sale in the United States. Mvasi, a biosimilar drug to Avastin that treats colorectal, lung, brain, cervical and kidney cancers, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA also approved Kanjinti, a biosimilar drug to Herceptin, to treat breast and stomach cancers. List prices for the drugs will be 15 percent lower than their reference products, Amgen said. Mvasi is $677.40 per 100 mg, and Kanjinti is $3,697.26 per 420 mg multi-dose vial. “Following several recent launches in Europe, we are excited to be launching our first two biosimilars in the U.S., which will provide for immediate savings for Medicare patients and commercial payers,” Murdo Gordon, executive vice president of global commercial operations at Amgen, said in a statement. “We have several more biosimilars advancing through our pipeline, even as we continue to drive innovation through novel therapies for cancer and other serious diseases.” Amgen has a total of 10 biosimilars in its portfolio. Three have been approved in the U.S. Shares of Amgen (AMGN) closed Friday down $1.15, or less than 1 percent, to $178.39 on the Nasdaq.