Novartis’s adalimumab offers alternative for patients with immunological diseases

Sandoz, a Novartis division has reported new data on its proposed biosimilar adalimumab, tested throughout 51 weeks of treatment in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis.

Sandoz

The company said that the data from a long-term study of patients continuously treated with the proposed biosimilar or the reference medicine show that efficacy and safety profiles of the two medicines match.

“Patient access to often critical and expensive biologic medicines is one of the key challenges facing healthcare systems in developed economies today,” said Mark Levick MD, PhD, Global Head of Development, Biopharmaceuticals, Sandoz.

He added: “Biosimilars are fundamentally changing the ability of healthcare systems to address this challenge. This clinical data supports the safety and efficacy of our proposed biosimilar adalimumab and offers a real alternative for patients living with immunological diseases.”

Sandoz has five biosimilars currently marketed worldwide and it plans to launch a total of five major oncology and immunology biosimilars between 2017 and 2020, including adalimumab, which is currently being reviewed by the European Medicines Agency, the company said.