Biogen Ticks Up Following EU Marketing Authorization Of Benepali

Shares of Biogen Inc BIIB were trading higher by 2 percent at $279.00 early Tuesday morning after the company announced that the European Union has granted marketing authorization for its BENEPALI.

BENEPALI is an etanercept biosimilar referencing Enbrel and is the first etanercept biosimilar referencing Enbrel to be approved in the EU. Biogen has been working with Samsung BioLogics to create a product that is used for the treatment of adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis, non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis and plaque psoriasis.

Biogen noted that BENEPALI will be available for patients in the coming weeks.

"The approval of BENEPALI is a significant step forward for patients and physicians, and an important milestone for Biogen as we bring to market the first product from our biosimilar pipeline," said Alpna Seth, Ph. D., Senior Vice President and Global Head of the Biosimilars Business Unit at Biogen. "As a biotechnology pioneer, Biogen is proud to translate our heritage and expertise in biologics to biosimilars. BENEPALI, as the first etanercept biosimilar referencing Enbrel approved in the EU, can help expand access to treatment options for people affected by chronic inflammatory conditions."