Tanvex BioPharma Inc (泰福生技), which focuses on supplying safe and affordable biosimilars, has obtained marketing approval in Canada for its TX01, a biosimilar of Neupogen (filgrastim), the company said yesterday.
Tanvex has signed contracts with Canada-based Mint Pharmaceuticals Inc authorizing the firm to sell TX01 in Canada, it said in a statement.
It is not known when sales of the drug would begin, as discussions with importers are required first and the COVID-19 pandemic might disrupt distribution, Tanvex said.
The prices for TX01 have yet to be decided, as the company still has to negotiate with private insurers, it said.
The gap between the prices of brand drugs and biosimilars is smaller than between brand drugs and generic drugs, as biosimilars require more research and development, and are more complex than generic drugs, Tanvex said.
Sales in Canada of Neupogen and its biosimilars reached more than C$100 million (US$80.68 million) in the 12 months to June, Tanvex said.
Amgen Inc’s Neupogen is used to treat chemotherapy-induced neutropenia and decreases the incidence of infection caused by febrile neutropenia, the company said.
Amgen filed a patent infringement claim against Tanvex in July 2019, but Tanvex reached an agreement with Amgen in March last year.
The company declined to reveal how much it agreed to pay Amgen.
“The expense was lower than the legal expenses if we had chosen to continue engaging in a lawsuit with Amgen,” a company official said by telephone yesterday.
Tanvex said obtaining approval in Canada has made it more confident of receiving approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), adding that it applied for a biologics license with the agency in October 2018.
The company expects to gain approval from the US FDA in the third quarter of next year, it said.
Tanvex’s cumulative revenue totaled NT$560,000 (US$19,989) for the first three quarters, up 86 percent from a year earlier.
For the first two quarters, it registered a net loss of NT$793 million, less than its net loss of NT$1.17 billion a year earlier, company data showed.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
Popular vape brands such as Geek Bar might get more expensive in the US — if you can find them at all. Shipments of vapes from China to the US ground to a near halt last month from a year ago, official data showed, hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and a crackdown on unauthorized e-cigarettes in the world’s biggest market for smoking alternatives. That includes Geek Bar, a brand of flavored vapes that is not authorized to sell in the US, but which had been widely available due to porous import controls. One retailer, who asked not to be named, because
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
RSS