Ab­b­Vie digs in for a long war as Am­gen bags first OK for a Hu­mi­ra biosim­i­lar

The FDA pro­vid­ed its stamp of ap­proval on Am­gen’s biosim­i­lar of Ab­b­Vie’s an­ti-in­flam­ma­to­ry megablock­buster Hu­mi­ra. But don’t look for any cheap­er copies of the drug any­time soon. Ab­b­Vie plans to fight to the last lawyer keep­ing the com­peti­tor off the mar­ket, claim­ing it has patents in place to bar this and oth­er ri­vals in the works for an­oth­er six years.

Ab­b­Vie has plen­ty to gain and much to lose when it comes to Hu­mi­ra and the biosim­i­lar mar­ket. The com­pa­ny earned about $14 bil­lion off the one fran­chise last year, and the num­bers keep head­ed north. In the sec­ond quar­ter, its flag­ship drug brought in $4.15 bil­lion. Hu­mi­ra pro­vides rough­ly two thirds of its rev­enue and Ab­b­Vie has been fight­ing for more time — lots more time — to de­vel­op new drugs to take its place.

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