First Herceptin biosimilar launched in UK

Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) has announced the launch of Ontruzant, the first biosimilar version of Roche’s (ROG: SIX) big-selling cancer drug Herceptin (trastuzumab), for patients in the UK.

This biosimilar will be marketed in Europe by the US pharma giant, which is known as MSD outside North America, but it was developed by Samsung Bioepis, a Korean firm that has quickly become one of the world's leading biosimilar companies, gaining European Union regulatory approval for four of these biologic copies in two years.

"The biggest category of medicines in oncology is monoclonal antibodies and biosimilars such as trastuzumab could provide a substantial cost saving"