An obstacle in Celltrion’s path to sell its rituximab biosimilar in Korea has been removed, with a court’s affirmation that a patent covering Genentech/Biogen’s Rituxan original for the use of chronic lymphocytic leukemia is invalid.

Sued by Herceptin sponsor Genentech for patent infringement, Samsung Bioepis has legal hurdles to navigate before it can roll out its trastuzumab biosimilar in the US, which has just become the third biosimilar of the cancer treatment greenlit by the FDA.

Only four months after it was carved out from Sanofi to become an independent company, Prague-based Zentiva has announced fresh leadership in the form of Nick Haggar, the 30-year industry veteran and former president of Medicines of Europe.

With an eye on moving to market its broad pipeline of innovative brands, Pfizer has cut development of five early-stage biosimilar assets, in a decision that will affect 150 staff. The move is not reflective of Pfizer's overall commitment to biosimilars, the US-based company maintains.

A strengthened cash position has provided Amneal the chance to seek inorganic opportunities to bolster its growing presence in injectables. The US-based, US-centric company is looking to grow its operations, having been surprised in recent weeks by generic competition to its most lucrative generic assets.

Teva has finalized a US$135 million payment to the US state of Illinois, the result of a protracted lawsuit alleging the Israeli firm caused Medicaid to overpay for prescription drugs due to inflated average wholesale prices.