Phani Kishore Thimmaraju
Biosimilars came into existence with the sole ideology of affordable medication for chronic illnesses in the therapy areas of immunology and oncology. The increasingly austere measures and continuous cuts in healthcare budget by many countries forced pharmaceutical companies to develop low cost biologics without compromising on quality. Numerous players have entered this field sensing the wide range of opportunities in multiple therapy areas. The first generation biosimilars emerged, applying the phenomenon of incremental innovation, categorized under hormones (somatropin). Later, the copies of complex mAbs (monoclonal antibodies) were developed. Presently, multiple biosimilars exist for somatropin and epoetin. Recently, the biosimilar of infliximab (Remicade) was approved by the EMA. The Remicade biosimilar, known as Inflectra/Remsima, was jointly developed by Celltroin and Hospira.
