AbbVie, Novartis Reach Deal on Humira Biosimilar

AbbVie settled its patent disputes with Novartis over its blockbuster immunosuppressive drug Humira (adalimumab) and granted Novartis a non-exclusive license to sell its version.

The license period for the Novartis biosimilar is scheduled to begin on Oct. 16, 2018 in the European Union and in September 2023 in the United States. The agreement comes three months after Sandoz received European marketing approval for its Humira biosimilar.

Amgen, meanwhile, reached an agreement last year with AbbVie to delay Amgen’s biosimilar version of Humira through January 2023.

AbbVie reported Humira sales of $18.4 billion in 2017.