Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • From the Analyst's Couch
  • Published:

Biosimilar competition: lessons from Europe

Nature Reviews Drug Discovery volume 13, pages 99–100 (2014)Cite this article

Subjects

Analysis of market experience

Characteristics of the biosimilar products analysed. Erythropoietin (EPO) is a naturally occurring glycoprotein that controls erythropoiesis (red blood cell production) to treat anaemia in patients undergoing dialysis and in patients with cancer, and G-CSF is a hormone that stimulates the production of white blood cells as a treatment for neutropenia. Recombinant products are available for these natural substances in both original (Eprex and Neupogen) and longer-lasting forms (Aranesp and Neulasta), but the biosimilars approved so far are referenced only to Eprex and Neupogen. There are currently five biosimilar products approved in Europe that reference Eprex (the first of which was approved in 2007) and six biosimilar products that reference Neupogen (the first of which was approved in 2008). Entry occurred at a faster rate in the case of biosimilars referencing Neupogen. By the end of 2011, the five countries had between three and five filgrastim biosimilars available. By contrast, except for Germany (where all five biosimilars referencing Eprex were available by early 2009), the other countries had only one to three epoetin biosimilars on the market over the 2009–2011 sample period (Supplementary information S1 (box); section 1).

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Market share for biosimilars in Europe (2009–2011).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Duke University, Durham, 27708, North Carolina, USA

    Henry Grabowski

  2. Cornerstone Research, 599 Lexington Avenue, New York, 10022-7642, New York, USA

    Rahul Guha & Maria Salgado

Authors
  1. Henry Grabowski
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Rahul Guha
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Maria Salgado
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Henry Grabowski.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors have been advisors and consultants to manufacturers of both branded biologics and biosimilar products. The analysis in this study was supported by their current employers and undertaken independently of any other organizations.

Supplementary information

Supplementary information S1 (box)

Data sources, analysis methods, and additional data and analyses (PDF 1629 kb)

PowerPoint slides

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Grabowski, H., Guha, R. & Salgado, M. Biosimilar competition: lessons from Europe. Nat Rev Drug Discov 13, 99–100 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd4210

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd4210

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research