Trending News Today: Pfizer Announces Launch Dates for Rituximab, Trastuzumab Biosimilars

Pfizer has set launch dates for its biosimilar Ruxience, referencing rituximab (Rituxan), and Trazimera, referencing trastuzumab (Herceptin), The Center for Biosimilars reported. According to the article, Albert Bourla, DVM, PhD, Pfizer’s chief executive officer, announce during the company’s third quarter 2019 earnings call that its rituximab biosimilar will be available in January 2020 and its trastuzumab biosimilar will follow on February 15, 2020. In his comments, Bourla also noted Pfizer’s efforts to encourage biosimilar-friendly policies and legislation, indicating that bipartisan legislation to promote biosimilars in the United States is advancing, the article reported.

A new study suggests that black women and women in rural areas are more likely to lose their jobs or face pay cuts after being diagnosed with breast cancer than white or women who live in urban areas, Reuters reported. According to the article, the study authors surveyed more than 2000 women in North Carolina who’d been diagnosed with breast cancer approximately 2 years earlier. Overall, 43.6% of women in rural areas reported loss of income linked with their diagnosis compared with 35.4% of urban women. Urban white women were found to be least likely to have their jobs affected compared with rural white women and black women, the article reported.

A recent report found that the number of children without health insurance in the United States has increased for the second year in a row, The Hill reported. According to the article, the report, which was based on an analysis of US Census Bureau data, found that the number of uninsured children increased by more than 400,000 between 2016 and 2018. Texas has the largest proportion of uninsured children and is home to more than 1 in 5 uninsured children in the United States, the article reported.