WHO to launch pilot prequalification of biosimilars for cancer

4 May 2017

The World Health Organization (WHO) has announced that it will begin a pilot project this year for prequalifying biosimilar medicines to make some of the most expensive cancer treatments more widely available in low and middle-income countries.

In September, manufacturers will be invited to submit applications for prequalification of biosimilar versions of two products in the WHO Essential Medicines List, namely rituximab and trastuzumab.

Used to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, rituximab is marketed under the names MabThera and Rituxan by Swiss pharma major Roche (ROG: SIX), the same company that sells the branded version of breast cancer drug trastuzumab, under the name Herceptin.

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