One big piece of news from Amgen's meeting with investors today: the company disclosed which drugs it is planning to make biosimilars of. This could be one of the biggest sea changes affecting the biotech industry. Think of them as generic versions of biotech protein drugs, except, unlike traditional pills, these medicines are tough and complicated to make. So while the "generic" will be cheaper than the brand version, it won't be by much. But because these will cost "only" $100 million or so to commercialize, they actually represent an appealing opportunity to a company like Amgen that is already in the business of making protein drugs. By turn, Amgen expects to face such competition for its own drugs when their patents expire.
One big piece of news from Amgen's meeting with investors today: the company disclosed which drugs it is planning to make biosimilars of. This could be one of the biggest sea changes affecting the biotech industry. Think of them as generic versions of biotech protein drugs, except, unlike traditional pills, these medicines are tough and complicated to make. So while the "generic" will be cheaper than the brand version, it won't be by much. But because these will cost "only" $100 million or so to commercialize, they actually represent an appealing opportunity to a company like Amgen that is already in the business of making protein drugs. By turn, Amgen expects to face such competition for its own drugs when their patents expire.