Celltrion announced on July 15 that it will begin the first-phase clinical trial of its biosimilar CT-P39 of "Xolair," a treatment for moderate to severe persistent allergic asthma and chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU).
Celltrion plans to enter the global clinical third phase in the first half of next year. It plans to make all-out efforts to commercialize it early with the goal of completing three phases of clinical trials in 2022.
Xolair is an antibody bio-medicine developed by Genentech and Novartis, which was designated as an innovative treatment by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year. It is a blockbuster product that recorded 3.3 trillion won in global sales as of last year.
Celltrion has been preemptively developing biosimilar as its material patent in the U.S., which accounts for 70 percent of Xolair's global sales, expired in December last year.
CT-P39 is the sixth antibody biosimilar currently undergoing clinical trials after CT-P17 and CT-P16.
"We will do our best to achieve the Xolair biosimilar first mover status so that more patients can receive reasonable cost treatment at an early date," a Celltrion official said.
