Biosimilar monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) in oncology

Biological medicines are derived from living cells and organisms. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are biological agents that are widely used to treat malignancies including non-Hodgkin's lymphomas and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. They are effective but expensive. The patents for many mAbs are expiring, so biosimilar medicines, which contain a version of the active ingredient of the original drug, are being developed. Biological medicines cannot be assessed in the same way as standard generic medications because they are difficult to copy and can change over time. A pathway regulates how biosimilars are assessed and compared with the original drug to ensure they are highly similar and have no clinically meaningful differences in terms of structure, function, pharmacodynamics and mechanism of action, pharmacokinetic properties, clinical efficacy and safety. Truxima^{® ▾}(rituximab), the first biosimilar monoclonal antibody to be approved for use in the UK in an oncology setting, is biosimilar to intravenous (IV) rituximab; rituximab improves the effectiveness of standard chemotherapy for lymphoma. The two drugs are comparable in efficacy and safety and have the same indications, dosing regimen and storage procedures.