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

Submitted: 20 June 2018; Revised: 14 August 2018; Accepted: 18 August 2018; Published online first: 31 August 2018 The ageing population, longer life expectancies, and the increasing cost of drugs are expected to significantly increase the burden on healthcare systems in the coming years. To reduce this burden and increase access to new, innovative and…

Author(s): GaBI Journal Editor

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2018.0703.026

Author byline as per print journal: Robin Thorpe, PhD, FRCPath; Elwyn Griffiths, PhD, DSc; Niklas Ekman, PhD Abstract: Biosimilar medicines are being increasingly developed and used worldwide. Many regulatory agencies across the globe are assessing how policy and regulation can be adapted and developed to ensure that biosimilars can enter markets successfully, without affecting the safety…

Author(s): Elwyn Griffiths, DSc, PhD, Niklas Ekman, PhD, Robin Thorpe, PhD, FRCPath

ASEAN, biologicals, biosimilars, education, regulatory, similar biotherapeutic product

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2018.0703.025

Author byline as per print journal: Auxiliary Professor Antistio Alviz-Amador1, MSc, Pharmaceutical Chemist; Jairo E Mercado Camargo2, MSc; Marlene Duran-Lengua3, MSc, PhD, Bacteriologist Introduction: Moxifloxacin is a quinolone antibiotic often used to treat infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria that have developed resistance in Colombia in recent years. Objective: To evaluate the concentration of active ingredient and the antibacterial…

Author(s): Antistio Alviz-Amador, MSc, Jairo E Mercado Camargo, MSc, Marlene Duran-Lengua, MSc, PhD

antibiotic resistance, Colombia, E. coli, moxifloxacin, S. aureus

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2018.0703.024

Introduction and study objectives: Benefit-risk evaluations are essential throughout the life cycle of a drug to guarantee therapeutic efficacy for the authorized indications without an unacceptable incidence of adverse effects. To achieve this, a registry, assessment of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and other pharmacovigilance (PhV) procedures are mandatory. Due to the inherent variability of bioproduction,…

Author(s): Francisco Fernández, MD, Matías Deprati, MD, Patricia Rodríguez Acedo, Eduardo Spitzer, BSc, Alvaro Romera, MD, Nadia Español, BSc

adverse drug reaction, bevacizumab, biosimilar, monoclonal antibodies, pharmacovigilance, safety profile

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2018.0703.023

Author byline as per print journal: Victoire Vieillard, PharmD; Professor Alain Astier, PharmD, PhD; Muriel Paul, PharmD Objectives: This study assessed the long-term stability of the trastuzumab biosimilar CT-P6 (Herzuma®, Biogaran) in vials under various storage conditions; after reconstitution of the lyophilized powder (21 mg/mL) and after dilution for final concentrations of 0.8 mg/mL and 2.4…

Author(s): Muriel Paul, PharmD, Professor Alain Astier, PharmD, PhD, Victoire Vieillard, PharmD

biosimilar, extended stability, in-use stability, trastuzumab

DOI: 10.5639/gabij.2018.0703.022