By 2015 biologics worth $60 billion in annual sales will lose patent protection, bolstering hopes for the rapid growth of the biosimilar business as generics companies elbow their way into a big new market. And analysts say that copies of complex biotech drugs could swell the size of the biosimilar market, accounting for $5 billion of a $10 billion business by 2016, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal.
The WSJ highlights Rituxan/MabThera, Remicade and Enbrel on the top of the list for biosimilars. And Sandoz, which is leading the pack of generic companies angling to get into the market, expects to see biosimilar revenue jump from $250 million this year to $20 billion by 2020.
It's not all clear sailing, though. The FDA is along way from providing clarity on biosimilar development rules, these blockbusters will be carefully guarded by companies with deep pockets and the cost of developing a follow-on will be very steep.
- here's the story from The Wall Street Journal