April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Korean biopharmaceutical firm Samsung Bioepis said on Oct. 17 it has launched its biosimilar Imraldi in the European market.

Imraldi -- a copy of the autoimmune disease drug Humira -- will first be commercialized in Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Italy, Samsung Bioepis said. Its US partner Biogen will be responsible for sales.

The drug, which can be used for treatment of such diseases as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, ulcerative colitis and uveitis, is the company’s fourth biosimilar to reach Europe.

In August 2017, the European Commission accepted Samsung Bioepis’ application to sell Imraldi in 28 EU member states, as well as Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

The commercialization was allowed following the settling of a patent dispute with the drug‘s original manufacturer AbbVie in April.

Samsung Bioepis was established in 2012 in a joint venture between Samsung BioLogics and Biogen. Samsung BioLogics is a biopharmaceutical unit of Korea’s top conglomerate, Samsung Group.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)