Biocad plans to launch biosimilar of Humira in Russia

Russian‘s leading drugmaker Biocad has registered a biosimilar of Humira(adalimumab), the world’s best-selling drug, used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis, among other inflammatory conditions, according to the company.

Despite the fact that AbbVie’s (NYSE: ABBV) Humira, whose sales worldwide reached almost $20 billion in 2018, may be protected by a patent, the Russian company intends to bring its biosimilar to the market as early as 2019, reports The Pharma Letter’s local correspondent. After this happens, AbbVie, as well as its Russian supplier R-Pharm, may lose sales on the Russian market.

The new biosimilar registered by Biocad is known as Dalibra. According to the Russian company, all its stages of production, including the production of active ingredients, will be carried out at the facilities of Biocad in the Moscow region.