Look back at pharma news in the week to May 18

By Barbara Obstoj-Cardwell. Editor

In the news last week was new guidance from the US Food and Drug Administration on the interchangeability of biosimilars, but there are still challenges ahead. ImmunoGen had a major setback with the FDA calling for a further study on its cancer drug mirvetuximab. Boehringer Ingelheim’s patent settlement with AbbVie over Cyltezo, its copy version of Humira, marks the eighth such deal as to when biosimilars of the world’s biggest selling inflammatory diseases drug can come to the US market. Research news was a ‘tale of two stories', with Agios Pharmaceuticals presenting positive new data on Tibsovo in cholangio carcinoma, while AbbVie’s Depatux-M failed to meet the primary endpoint of a Phase III glioblastoma study.

Road ahead still difficult for biosimilars in the USA despite new FDA guidance on interchageability