CAFC ruling clears path for Zarxio launch

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied an attempt by Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) to further delay the launch of Zarxio filgrastim-sndz from the Sandoz unit of Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS; SIX:NOVN). The denial could allow Sandoz to launch the biosimilar as early as Thursday. Novartis spokesperson Eric Althoff declined to comment on the company's launch timeline.

The court denied an emergency motion filed by Amgen last week seeking an injunction to delay Zarxio's launch pending a potential en banc review of the case. The court did not provide a reason for its decision (see BioCentury Extra, Aug. 27). ...