Cheaper Biotech Drugs Come to U.S. as Novartis Gets FDA Approval

Americans are poised to gain access to cheaper therapies for serious ailments from cancer to arthritis with approval today of the first biosimilar in the U.S., Novartis AG’s version of Amgen Inc.’s Neupogen.

For years, pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies have manufactured and sold expensive, complex medicines that have no less-expensive alternatives -- unlike cheap generic copies of pills that become available when their patents run out.