Biocon is gearing up for a major lift in its biosimilars business, expecting development costs to drop by nearly 50 percent after the US proposed easing clinical testing for the drugs that make up more than 60% of its revenue, a top executive said on Wednesday.
The company is targeting the launch of 20 biosimilars by 2030 and is focusing on upcoming launches in key markets in the U.S. and Europe, Shreehas Tambe, CEO of Biocon Biologics, a unit of Biocon, said in an interview with Reuters.
Biosimilars are copies of costlier biological drugs used to treat major illnesses such as cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis and diabetes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month proposed to simplify drug testing by lowering the requirement for large comparative clinical efficacy trials.
"You can do more because it's (FDA's draft proposal) going to halve the cost of development ... you can develop them (biosimilars) and bring them to patients faster and make it more affordable."
Biocon, which has seven of its biosimilars in the commercial market in the U.S., is looking to launch two more in the next six months. The company's oncology biosimilar medicines have a fourth of the U.S. market share and will benefit from the lower development cost, Tambe said.
The firm's revenue from biosimilars grew 25% in the latest quarter.
Biocon is also looking to expand its generics segment with the launch of weight-loss drugs to drive future growth, the company had said earlier.
Read also: Biocon Biologics Gets Health Canada Nod for Yesintek, a Biosimilar to Stelara
Biocon Limited, publicly listed in 2004, is a global biopharmaceutical company. It has developed and commercialized novel biologics, biosimilars and complex small molecule APIs in India and several key global markets, as well as generic formulations in the US and Europe.
Read also: Biocon Biologics, Civica expand partnership, launch private label Insulin Glargine to broaden US diabetes treatment options
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