The Regulation of Biological and other Innovative Medicinal Products

This chapter discusses the phrase ‘biological medicinal product’, which is used to refer to products manufactured by biological or biotechnology means or to advanced therapy medicinal products. It examines biological medicinal products that are considered peptides or proteins and are made up of one or more linear sequences of amino acids. It also talks about the compliance of biological products with a minimum quality standard set by the British Pharmacopoeia or European Pharmacopoeia, which includes specific instructions for testing sterility, bacterial endotoxins, microbial limits, volume in container, uniformity of dosage units, and particulate matter. The chapter highlights biological products that are manufactured using recombinant cells and are extracted or made from unaltered tissues or blood that are purified in the same way as recombinant products. It explores the inherent heterogeneity of biological products as it comprises of a mixture of closely related molecules.

Development of an Approach to the Assessment of Changes to Approved Biological Products

The need to strengthen the post-approval regulation of biological products stems from their increasing role in the treatment of serious human diseases. Until recently, there were open questions on the classification of changes and supporting data necessary to confirm the comparability of a biological medicinal product before and after any changes, as well as on the procedures and deadlines for the submission and approval of variations. In October 2017 the WHO Expert Committee on Biological Standardisation developed and published the «Guidelines on procedures and data requirements for changes to approved biotherapeutic products». The WHO recommendations are primarily aimed at resolving the complexities and current problems in the global life cycle management of biotherapeutic products. Guidelines suggest approaches that ensure continued quality, efficacy, and safety of this group of products, as well as continuity in supply and access. The purpose of this paper was to analyse the WHO recommendations on post-approval changes to biotherapeutic products in order to develop harmonised approaches to the assessment of post-approval changes to biological medicinal products in the Russian Federation. The categories of quality changes, supporting data, conditions to be fulfilled, procedures and deadlines set forth in this paper can serve as a basis for further improvement of the national regulatory and methodological framework.

REGULATORY GUIDELINES FOR APPROVAL OF BIOSIMILARS IN INDIA, EUROPE, BRAZIL AND CHINA: A COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW

<p>A biosimilar is a biological medicinal product that contains a version of the active substance of an already authorized original biological medicinal product (reference medicinal product). A biosimilar demonstrates similarity to the reference biological product in terms of quality characteristics, biological activity, safety and efficacy based on a comprehensive comparability exercise. EMA (European Medicines Agency) was the first to introduce the guidelines for biosimilar approval, effective from June 2006. Biosimilar guideline was released in 2010 in Brazil and 2012 in India. Recently China published its guideline for biosimilar approval in 2015.</p><p>This article summarizes the regulatory requirements for approval of biosimilars in India, Europe, Brazil, and China. These countries require comparability exercise of a biosimilar with reference biological product for generating comparative analytical, non-clinical and clinical data (usually one or two phase 1 and phase 3 comparative studies). A case study of infliximab biosimilar approval in India, Brazil and Europe has also been included.</p>