Global Harmonization of Biosimilar Development by Overcoming Existing Differences in Regional Regulatory Requirements - Outcomes of a Descriptive Review

Global harmonization of biosimilar developmental requirements will facilitate development leading to increased patient and societal benefits. However, there are several technical and regulatory hurdles that must be addressed to harmonize the regulatory requirements in different countries and regions. At times, there is a requirement for use of locally sourced reference product, forcing biosimilar developers to repeat analytical or clinical comparability studies against reference product batches sourced from within a given country. While most health authorities no longer require comparative animal toxicology studies of the proposed biosimilar and reference product, these are still required in several countries, forcing biosimilar companies to conduct such studies or risk non-approval of their product. At times, different health authorities request different clinical study designs. In some jurisdictions there is a requirement to generate clinical data in local ethnic populations. Some health authorities require a hybrid label that combines clinical data from the reference biologic and the biosimilar, in the patient leaflet. Recommendations are provided to address each of these hurdles to facilitate global regulatory harmonization of biosimilars. Overcoming these barriers will ultimately increase patient access to these medicines in all regions while providing financial relief to healthcare systems.