FDA approves Amgen biosimilar of AbbVie’s Humira

The Food and Drug Administration approved Amgen’s Humira biosimilar Sept. 23. Amjevita, formerly known as ABP 501 and made by Thousand Oaks-biotech giant Amgen, replicates the effects of Humira, which is approved to treat nine conditions including rheumatoid arthritis, skin disorders and colon inflammation. Humira, made by Chicago-based competitor AbbVie, typically costs $20,000 per year Read More →
Mindbody acquires app developer HealCode

MindBody, a San Luis Obispo-based developer of merchant processing software for yoga and fitness studios, acquired Austin, Texas–based HealCode, which develops web and mobile apps for holistic health service companies. MindBody and HealCode worked closely together previously and about 7,500 of MindBody’s 55,000 subscribers already used HealCode widgets in MindBody software for things like client Read More →
FDA approves Amgen’s Blincyto

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Amgen’s drug Blincyto for treating pediatric leukemia patients Sept. 1. In Dec. 2014, the FDA approved Blincyto to treat patients with precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, which is a rare form of the disease. On Sept. 1, the agency extended Blincyto’s approval to include pediatric patients with another Read More →
FDA approves biosimilar of Amgen’s Enbrel

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration formally approved a competing biosimilar of Amgen’s top-selling drug Enbrel on Aug. 30. Made by Switzerland-based Novartis, Erelzi mimics the effects of Enbrel. Enbrel, which was first approved in 1998, is approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions by decreasing the amount of a protein produced by the Read More →
Amgen reports positive results for Prolia

Thousand Oaks-based biotech giant Amgen announced positive results from patients receiving Prolia to treat inflammation Aug. 29. In the study, Prolia, normally used to treat osteoporosis, hypercalcemia and bone cancer, was used to treat inflammation. The two-year study enrolled 795 patients to evaluate the safety of two 60 milligram doses of Prolia given under the Read More →