Vegzelma, Celltrion's Avastin biosimilar, approved for sale in Australia

Vegzelma, a Celltrion biosimilar of the anticancer drug Avastin [CELLTRION]

Celltrion's biosimilar of the anti-cancer drug Avastin, marketed as Vegzelma, was approved for sale in Australia, the Incheon-based biopharmaceutical company said Wednesday.

The latest approval from the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration will bump the number of Celltrion’s drugs available in the country up to six, along with blood cancer treatment Truxima and stomach cancer treatment Herzuma.

Celltrion’s Vegzelma is an identical copy of bevacizumab, better known as Avastin, the name it is marketed under by Switzerland’s Roche. It is used to treat metastatic colorectal cancer, metastatic breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and glioblastoma.

Vegzelma has been granted sales approvals in 39 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Korea.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]