Novartis unit to start selling copy of Amgen drug Neupogen

Novartis said Thursday that its Sandoz subsidiary will begin selling Zarxio, a copycat version of Amgen’s infection-fighting Neupogen, in the United States.

The Swiss company’s move follows an appeals court decision on Wednesday, declining Amgen Inc.’s request to block the sale of the drug. Neupogen generates $1.2 billion annually for the Thousand Oaks company.

Zarxio is the first so-called biosimilar, a cheaper copy of a biologic drug, to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration, which took action in March.

Biologics, unlike chemical drugs, are made from living cells, blood or tissue. They have until now enjoyed U.S. regulatory protection because biologics were not included in the 1984 law that allowed low-cost generics.