Amneal Enters U.S. Biosimilars Market With Approval of RELEUKOTM (filgrastim-ayow)

Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: AMRX) received FDA approval for RELEUKO™, a biosimilar to Neupogen®, targeting neutropenia treatment.

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03/01/2022 - 04:05 PM

- First of three Amneal biosimilars expected for U.S. approval and launch in 2022

BRIDGEWATER, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: AMRX) (“Amneal” or the “Company”) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the Biologics License Application (BLA) for filgrastim-ayow, a biosimilar referencing Neupogen^®. The product will be marketed under the proprietary name RELEUKO^TM.

RELEUKO^TM was developed in collaboration with Kashiv Biosciences, LLC located in Chicago, Illinois. It is used to treat neutropenia (low neutrophils which are a type of white blood cells that fight infection) which is commonly experienced by patients undergoing chemotherapy. Amneal expects to launch RELEUKO^TM in the third quarter of 2022, along with a full patient support program.

The Company is planning for a pegfilgrastim biosimilar referencing Neulasta^® and a bevacizumab biosimilar referencing Avastin^® to launch in 2022. Both are being reviewed by the FDA.

“The U.S. approval of our first biosimilar is a very significant milestone for Amneal. Biosimilars represent the next wave of providing access to affordable medicines in the U.S. We are building a global biosimilars business by leveraging partner assets to start and then leveraging our own key capabilities over time. Our goal is to become a meaningful long-term player in biosimilars,” said Chirag and Chintu Patel, Co-Chief Executive Officers.

“It is a proud moment for the Kashiv Biosciences team and our partners at Amneal to have our first biosimilar, RELEUKO™, approved by the U.S. FDA. Kashiv is one of a few domestic companies to manufacture and launch a biosimilar in the United States. Kashiv aims to continue bringing high quality biosimilars to the global markets over the coming years. I would like to extend a humble thank you to our highly talented team, without whom this would not have been possible,” said Dr. Chandramauli Rawal, Chief Operating Officer for Kashiv.

According to IQVIA®, U.S. annual sales for filgrastim for the 12 months ended December 2021 were $407 million, of which $275 million represents biosimilar sales.

RELEUKO^TM in the U.S. is indicated:

To decrease the incidence of infection‚ as manifested by febrile neutropenia‚ in patients with nonmyeloid malignancies receiving myelosuppressive anti- cancer drugs associated with a significant incidence of severe neutropenia with fever.
To reduce the time to neutrophil recovery and the duration of fever, following induction or consolidation chemotherapy treatment of patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
To reduce the duration of neutropenia and neutropenia-related clinical sequelae‚ e.g., febrile neutropenia, in patients with nonmyeloid malignancies undergoing myeloablative chemotherapy followed by bone marrow transplantation (BMT).
To reduce the incidence and duration of sequelae of severe neutropenia‚ (e.g., fever‚ infections‚ oropharyngeal ulcers) in symptomatic patients with congenital neutropenia‚ cyclic neutropenia‚ or idiopathic neutropenia.

RELEUKO^TM IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION

Patients with a history of serious allergic reactions to human granulocyte colony-stimulating factors such as filgrastim products or pegfilgrastim products.

Before you take RELEUKO^TM, tell your healthcare provider if you are pregnant or plan to breast feed, and if you have sickle cell disorder, kidney problems or receiving radiation therapy.

WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

Fatal splenic rupture: Patients may experience enlarged spleen which can rupture and cause death.
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS): Patients may develop fever and lung infiltrates or respiratory distress for ARDS. Discontinue RELEUKO^TMin patients with ARDS.
Fatal sickle cell crises: Serious sickle cell crises have been reported in patients with sickle cell disorders receiving RELEUKO^TM. Discontinue RELEUKO^TMif sickle cell crisis occurs.
Serious allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis: Permanently discontinue RELEUKO^TM in patients with serious allergic reactions.
Kidney injury (Glomerulonephritis): Kidney injury have been reported in patients on RELEUKO^TM. Consider dose-reduction or interruption of RELEUKO^TMin patients with kidney injury.
Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) and Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML): Monitor patients with breast and lung cancer using RELEUKO^TMin conjunction with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy for signs and symptoms of MDS/AML.
Decreased platelet count (thrombocytopenia); increased white blood cell count (leukocytosis) and inflammation of your blood vessels (cutaneous vasculitis) have been reported. Monitor platelet counts and white blood cell count.

ADVERSE REACTIONS

Most common adverse reactions in patients:

With nonmyeloid malignancies receiving myelosuppressive anti-cancer drugs are pyrexia, pain, rash, cough, and dyspnea.
With AML are pain, epistaxis and rash.
With nonmyeloid malignancies undergoing myeloablative chemotherapy followed by Bone Marrow Transplant is rash.
With severe chronic neutropenia are pain, anemia, epistaxis, diarrhea, hypoesthesia and alopecia

For full prescribing information, see package insert located here.

About Amneal

Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE: AMRX), headquartered in Bridgewater, NJ, is a fully integrated essential medicines company. We make healthy possible through the development, manufacturing, and distribution of generic and specialty pharmaceuticals, primarily within the United States. The Company has a diverse portfolio of approximately 250 products in its Generics segment and is expanding across a broad range of complex products and therapeutic areas, including injectables and biosimilars. In its Specialty segment, Amneal has a growing portfolio of branded pharmaceutical products focused primarily on central nervous system and endocrine disorders, with a pipeline focused on unmet needs. Through its AvKARE segment, the Company is a distributor of pharmaceuticals and other products for the U.S. federal government, retail, and institutional markets. For more, please visit www.amneal.com.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained herein, regarding matters that are not historical facts, may be forward-looking statements (as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995). Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding management’s intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations or forecasts for the future, including among other things: product research and development; discussions of future operations; expected operating results and financial performance; the Company’s strategy for growth; regulatory approvals; market position and expenditures. Words such as “plans,” “expects,” “will,” “anticipates,” “estimates” and similar words are intended to identify estimates and forward-looking statements.

The reader is cautioned not to rely on these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations of future events. If the underlying assumptions prove inaccurate or known or unknown risks or uncertainties materialize, actual results could vary materially from the expectations and projections of the Company.

Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: our ability to successfully develop, license, acquire and commercialize new products on a timely basis; the competition we face in the pharmaceutical industry from brand and generic drug product companies; the impact of global economic conditions; direct or indirect impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic; our ability to obtain exclusive marketing rights for our products; the impact of competition on our ability to set prices; our ability to manage our growth through acquisitions and otherwise; our dependence on the sales of a limited number of products for a substantial portion of our total revenues; the risk of product liability and other claims against us by consumers and other third parties; risks related to changes in the regulatory environment, including U.S. federal and state laws related to healthcare fraud abuse and health information privacy and security and changes in such laws; changes to FDA product approval requirements; risks related to federal regulation of arrangements between manufacturers of branded and generic products; the impact of healthcare reform and changes in coverage and reimbursement levels by governmental authorities and other third-party payers; the continuing trend of consolidation of certain customer groups; our reliance on certain licenses to proprietary technologies from time to time; our dependence on third-party suppliers and distributors for raw materials for our products and certain finished goods; our dependence on third-party agreements for a portion of our product offerings; our ability to identify, make and integrate acquisitions or investments in complementary businesses and products on advantageous terms; legal, regulatory and legislative efforts by our brand competitors to deter competition from our generic alternatives; the significant amount of resources we expend on research and development; our substantial amount of indebtedness and our ability to generate sufficient cash to service our indebtedness in the future, and the impact of interest rate fluctuations on such indebtedness; and the impact of severe weather. The forward-looking statements contained herein are also subject generally to other risks and uncertainties that are described from time to time in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including under Item 1A, “Risk Factors” in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and in its subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Forward-looking statements included herein speak only as of the date hereof and we undertake no obligation to revise or update such statements to reflect the occurrence of events or circumstances after the date hereof.