Submitted: 4 March 2019; Revised: 25 April 2019; Accepted: 27 April 2019; Published online first: 30 April 2019 The availability of quality generic drug products plays an increasingly important role in promoting access to medicines worldwide and in helping to address rising healthcare costs. This, however, has led to significant pressures on medicines regulatory authorities…

Author(s): Alfredo García Arieta, PhD

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2019.0801.005

Submitted: 5 February 2019; Revised: 14 March 2019; Accepted: 20 March 2019; Published online first: 2 April 2019 The global market for biosimilars is valued at approximately US$4 billion, and it is growing rapidly as patents expire on an increasing number of biological drugs. A number of important milestones were achieved during 2018 regarding approval…

Author(s): GaBI Journal Editor

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2019.0801.004

Abstract: Over the last few years, there has been a shift in the landscape of blockbuster medicines from small molecule drugs to biologicals. While small molecule drugs still dominate the global pharmaceutical market in terms of numbers, seven of the top 10 best-selling medicines in 2018 were biologicals. The high and rising cost of biologicals…

Author(s): GaBI Journal Editor, GaBI Online Editor

biological, biosimilar, market exclusivity, patent

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2019.0801.003

Abstract: Biological and biotechnological medicines are important pharmaceutical innovations due to their influence on the treatment of many conditions and because they have led the way in devising new and innovative pharmacological therapies. In addition, biosimilars, which can be authorized on the date of expiry of a biological originator’s patent, give an opportunity for the…

Author(s): Enrico Adriano Raffaelli, LLB, JD, Fausto Massimino, LLB, JD

advertising, biosimilars, competition, Italy, public tenders, scientific information

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2019.0801.002

Editor's Letter

Published on 29 May 2019

Editor’s introduction to the initial issue of the eighth volume of GaBI Journal

This issue contains important information and manuscripts, but the small number of original papers illustrates the challenge the GaBI Journal (as well as many other legitimate journals) is having attracting quality work. This challenge may at least in part be the result of the rapid growth of medical journals. There are now tens of thousands…

Author(s): Professor Philip D Walson, MD

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2019.0801.001

Submitted: 6 December 2018; Revised: 12 December 2018; Accepted: 14 December 2018; Published online first: 19 December 2018 Generic drugs are currently central to disease treatment in the US. However, recent policy concerns have focussed on generics supply inadequacies and the perceived increase in prices of some generic drug products. To further explore the changing…

Author(s): GaBI Journal Editor

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2018.0704.033

Author byline as per print journal: Gianluca Trifirò, MD, PhD; Meteb Al-Foheidi, MD, FRCPC; Ali M Alhomaidan, PhD; Ahmed H Aljedai, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, FCCP, FAST; Musaed Abdullah Alkholief, PhD; Mohammad A Alsenaidy, MSc, PhD; Aws Alshamsan, BPharm, RPh, PhD; Tore Kristian Kvien, MD, PhD Introduction: A meeting was organized by the Generics and Biosimilars…

Author(s): Ahmed H Aljedai, PharmD, MBA, BCPS, FCCP, FAST, Ali M Alhomaidan, PhD, Assistant Professor Gianluca Trifirò, MD, PhD, Aws Alshamsan, BPharm, RPh, PhD, Meteb Al-Foheidi, MD, FRCPC, Mohammad A Alsenaidy, MSc, PhD, Musaed Abdullah Alkholief, PhD, Professor Tore Kristian Kvien, MD

biologicals, biosimilars, GCC, interchangeability, regulatory, Saudi Arabia

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2018.0704.032

Author byline as per print journal: Michael Sarshad, BSc, MBA; Rosanne Campbell, BComm, PGdip, MSc; Peter J Pitts, BA; Jacqueline anderpuye- Orgle, MSc, PhD Abstract: As the number of biosimilar product approvals continues to grow, it will become even more important to collect pharmacovigilance data that are accurate and attributable to the specific product. Different…

Author(s): Jacqueline Vanderpuye-Orgle, MSc, PhD, Michael Sarshad, BSc, MBA, Rosanne Campbell, BComm, PGdip, MSc, Peter J Pitts, BA

biosimilars, Inflectra, International Nonproprietary Name (INN), naming, nomenclature, Zarxio

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2018.0704.031

Author byline as per print journal: Professor Brian Godman1,2,3, BSc, PhD; Amanj Kurdi1,4, PhD; Holly McCabe5, MSc; Sean MacBride-Stewart6, MSc; Axel Leporowski5, MD; Simon Hurding7, MD; Professor Marion Bennie1, MSc; Professor Alec Morton5, PhD Introduction: There has been a considerable increase in the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) in recent years due to their effectiveness…

Author(s): Amanj Kurdi, BSc, PhD, Axel Leporowski, MD, Brian Godman, BSc, PhD, Holly McCabe, MSc, Marion Bennie, MSc, Professor Alec Morton, PhD, Sean MacBride-Stewart, MSc, Simon Hurding, MD

drug utilization, expenditure, generics, PPIs, reforms, Scottish NHS

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2018.0704.030

Abstract: Nomenclature for biosimilars is a controversial issue. In this issue of GaBI Journal, a paper by Sarshad et al. considers the US FDA’s published system for this and concludes that it will be a positive solution to a global issue. But this may be a premature judgement. Submitted: 1 January 2019; Revised: 3 January…

Author(s): Robin Thorpe, PhD, FRCPath

biosimilars, INN, nomenclature, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2018.0704.029

Editor's Letter

Published on 28 January 2019

Fourth and final issue of GaBI Journal’s seventh volume

Globalization of the world’s economy has clearly created both major advances and ongoing challenges including in the pharmaceutical industry. Naming of pharmaceuticals might seem to be an uninteresting topic to those outside of the pharmaceutical industry. In fact, as I learned many years ago as a volunteer member of the US Pharmacopeia (USP) Nomenclature Committee,…

Author(s): Professor Philip D Walson, MD

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2018.0704.028

Submitted: 21 November 2018; Revised: 22 November 2018; Accepted: 28 November 2018; Published online first: 4 December 2018 A study published by the World Health Organization (WHO) compares the effect of different pricing policies for generic medicines in four countries [1]. Using atorvastatin as a case study, their results show that price cuts combined with…

Author(s): GaBI Journal Editor

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2018.0703.027