Apotex Inc., the largest Canadian owned pharmaceutical company, announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has accepted for filing the company's application for pegfilgrastim, a biosimilar version of Amgen's Neulasta. The product has been jointly developed with Intas Pharmaceuticals Ltd. The application was filed under the 351(k) abbreviated approval pathway created by the Biosimilar Price Competition and Innovation Act (BPCIA).

Neulasta is the long acting formulation of Neupogen (filgrastim). Filgrastim is used to help cancer patients taking chemotherapies fight infections and fever by boosting white blood cell counts. Apotex believes it is the first company to have a biosimilar filing accepted for review by FDA for the long acting formulation of the product. According to IMS Health, Neulasta had approximately $3.6 billion in sales in calendar year 2013.

"We are very pleased to be at the forefront of companies who will introduce high quality biosimilar products into the US marketplace," said Apotex president and chief executive officer, Dr. Jeremy B. Desai. "Our entry into this new frontier of medicine in the United States is a watershed event in Apotex's 40 year history of providing quality, affordable medicines to patients in need around the globe," Desai added. "The benefits for patients, payers and providers from biosimilars will be significant. We are dedicated to playing a leading role in the effort to increase the American public's access to more affordable versions of these life-saving therapies and generate substantial savings for the US health care system," Desai added.

The product will be marketed in the United States by ApoBiologix®, a division of Apotex Corp.