BioLink is honored to kick off our Thought Leader Series with Dr. Duncan Emerton, Senior Director of Syndicated Insights and Analysis at FirstWord Pharma, and the man behind the Biosimilarz blog and on Twitter.
Dr. Emerton has established himself as a thought leader in the biosimilars community, presenting at numerous biosimilar conferences, including the 4th Annual Biosimilars Conference in London and recently the EGA Generics Conference. He has also contributed articles to various publications, such as BioProcess International and academia.edu.
In the first of our 3-part series, Madeline Chong, junior at UC Berkeley, studying Molecular and Cell Biology, and researcher for BioLink, talks with Dr. Emerton about recent biosimilar news and his opinion on the future of the growing industry.
Drug Development, Patent Dances and Profit Share
Much is made in news coverage of the biosimilars arena about the ‘race’ to bring drugs to market, to topple the monopoly of originator drugs – and grab some of the profit share of their manufacturers.
But for Dr. Duncan Emerton, it’s less of a race, or a sprint – and more of a marathon.
“We’ve already got the leaders to date. Sandoz, they are ahead in terms of market share, they are ahead in terms of revenue,” he says. “Obviously, Celltrion is first to market in Europe, and they will potentially be first to market in the U.S. as well, with Remsima. So, I think if you’re looking at [who’s] first as opposed to who wins, I suppose, then Sandoz, obviously, and Celltrion won. In terms of getting these products to market, I think it then turns into a discussion around who’s going to make the most profit, who’s going to make the best return on their investment, and I think, personally speaking, it’s going to be one of a number of companies that are able to leverage their capability to cross a range of different areas.”
Dr. Emerton predicts Pfizer and Amgen will be at the top when it comes to revenue from biosimilars, but says Korea’s Samsung Bioepis is definitely one to watch.
