Tofidence, the First Actemra Biosimilar, Brings Another Option to Treat Inflammatory Conditions

November 9

The FDA recently approved the first biosimilar of Actemra (tocilizumab) from Genentech USA, Inc., a member of the Roche Group, for multiple indications. Both payers and rheumatologists responding to a Zitter Insights survey said they expected the new drug to have some impact on their management of and prescribing for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the drug’s lack of an additional formulation may hurt its uptake, say industry sources.

On Sept. 29, the FDA approved Bio-Thera and Biogen Inc.’s Tofidence (tocilizumab-bavi) intravenous formulation for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis who have had an inadequate response to at least one disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD), people at least 2 years old with active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis and people at least 2 years old with active systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Dosing of the intravenous infusion is based on the indication.

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Radar on Specialty Pharmacy

Angela Maas

Angela has an extensive background of editing, reporting and writing for trade and consumer publications. She has written Radar on Specialty Pharmacy since she joined AIS Health in 2005 and has broad knowledge of the various issues at play within the space. She also has written for Spotlight on Market Access since its 2017 launch. Before joining AIS Health, she was managing editor at Employee Benefit News and Employee Benefit News Canada and managing editor at Hem Aware (a hemophilia publication), Lupus Living and Momentum (a multiple sclerosis publication). She has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in British literature from Arizona State University.