Biosimilar medicines used for cancer therapy in Europe: a review.

Highlights • Several new biosimilar medicines are continuously been introduced in the market. • Current oncologic biosimilars are epoetins, filgrastim, and monoclonal antibodies. • Cancer therapy is the major clinical application of biosimilars. • Pharmacovigilance is monitoring the safety and efficacy of approved biosimilars. This article provides an updated review of the biosimilar medicines approved for cancer therapy in the European Union (EU). First we discuss the most relevant aspects for the development and approval of biosimilar medicines. We then present the oncological biosimilar drugs currently used, which include epoetins (alpha and zeta), filgrastim, and monoclonal antibodies (rituximab, trastuzumab and bevacizumab). Among the clinical applications of biosimilar medicines, cancer therapy remains the main target area and more approved biosimilars are expected over the next few years, providing cost-effective drugs to more patients. Furthermore, comprehensive pharmacovigilance studies are going on, monitoring the marketed biosimilars, and providing more feasible information to clinicians regarding the safety and efficacy of these medications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]