On November 20, 2017 Samsung Bioepis Co., Ltd. reported the European Commission’s (EC) marketing authorization of ONTRUZANT, a biosimilar referencing Herceptin (trastuzumab), for the treatment of early breast cancer, metastatic breast cancer and metastatic gastric cancer (Press release, Samsung Bioepis, NOV 20, 2017, View Source [SID1234522145]). ONTRUZANT is the first trastuzumab biosimilar to receive regulatory approval in Europe.

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The EC approval of ONTRUZANT applies to all 28 European Union (EU) member states and the European Economic Area (EEA) member states of Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. ONTRUZANT will be commercialized by MSD, which is known as Merck in the United States and Canada.

"Breast cancer remains the most common form of cancer affecting women. We hope ONTRUZANT will play an important role expanding patient access to trastuzumab across the region," said Christopher Hansung Ko, President & CEO of Samsung Bioepis. "Through relentless process innovation and an uncompromising commitment to quality, we remain dedicated to advancing one of the industry’s strongest biosimilar pipelines, so that more cancer patients and healthcare systems across Europe will benefit from biosimilars."

ONTRUZANT is the fourth biosimilar developed by Samsung Bioepis to receive EC marketing authorization. Samsung Bioepis has also received marketing authorizations for Benepali (etanercept), Flixabi (infliximab) and Imraldi (adalimumab).