SHANGHAI, CHINA & JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc. (2696.HK) and Organon (NYSE: OGN) announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the Biologic License Application (BLA) for HLX14, an investigational biosimilar of PROLIA/XGEVA (denosumab).

Denosumab has been approved in various countries and regions under different trade names for a range of different indications, such as for the treatment of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women at high risk for fracture, among others.

In 2022, Henlius entered into a license and supply agreement with Organon, granting Organon the exclusive commercialization rights to two biosimilar candidates, including HLX14. The agreement covers markets such as the United States, the European Union, and Canada. An exception to the agreement is China.

The filing is based on data from a series of head-to-head studies for HLX14, including comparative quality analytical studies and two clinical studies. The first was a two-part phase 1 clinical study in Chinese healthy adult male subjects. Part 1 was an open-label, randomized, parallel-controlled, single-dose, two-arm pilot study with the primary objective to compare the PK parameters of HLX14 and EU-sourced PROLIA after subcutaneous injection to provide further basis for the study design of part 2. Part 2 was a double-blind, randomized, parallel-controlled, single-dose, four-arm study with the primary objective to compare the pharmacokinetic similarity of HLX14 with US-, EU-, and China-sourced PROLIA after subcutaneous injection. The second was a randomized, double-blind, international multicenter, parallel-controlled phase 3 clinical study comparing the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of HLX14 with EU-sourced reference PROLIA in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis at high risk for fracture.