New York City-based Pfizer will start shipping its biosimilar copy of Johnson & Johnson's best-selling arthritis drug Remicade in November, offering the drug at a 15 percent discount, according to Reuters.
The FDA approved Pfizer's biosimilar, known as Inflectra, in April. Once released, it will be the second biosimilar drug available in the U.S., according to the report.
Pfizer and New Brunswick, N.J.-based J&J are in ongoing litigation regarding whether Inflectra infringes on Remicade's patents.
In an emailed statement to Reuters, J&J said it considers any Inflectra sales to be an "at risk launch," referring to Pfizer putting the drug on the market before resolving the outstanding patent lawsuit. If the court determines Pfizer infringed on Remicade patents, Inflectra will be taken of the market and J&J will be entitled to triple damages, according to the report.
Michael Weinstein, an analyst at JP Morgan, estimated J&J will lose about $1 billion in Remicade' revenue for 2017 as a result of Inflectra's upcoming presence in the market.
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