Report: Teva recruits patients for Rituxan biosimilar trial

NEW YORK Generic drug maker Teva Pharmaceutical Industries isn’t holding back in its effort to push into the nascent U.S. biosimilars market as it began a clinical trial of a biosimilar for rheumatoid arthritis earlier this month, according to published reports.

BusinessWeek reported Tuesday that Teva had started recruiting patients with rheumatoid arthritis for a trial of TL011, a biosimilar knockoff of Roche’s Rituxan (rituximab) that Teva sells in other countries under the name MabThera.

Roche markets Rituxan, a monoclonal antibody, as a treatment for inflammatory diseases and cancer.