Kyowa Hakko Kirin, a Japan-based pharmaceutical company, has established a subsidiary, Kirin Frontier Co., which will seek approval to manufacture and market a biosimilar version of Amgen’s anemia drug, Nesp (darbepoetin alfa) in Japan. Nesp, which is marketed as Aranesp in the US, is one of Amgen’s top-selling drugs with $2.09 billion in 2016 worldwide sales.

In Japan, under the brand name, Nesp, the drug had 2016 sales of Japanese yen 56.3 billion ($503 million). Kyowa Hakko Kirin is working with Amgen to develop the biosimilar version.

In the US, Aranesp is an erythropoiesis-stimulating agent indicated for treating anemia due to chronic kidney disease and the effects of concomitant myelosuppressive chemotherapy.

Source: Kyowa Hakko Kirin