Partners target generic EPO

Hospira, a U.S. hospital products company, and German generic drugmaker Bioceuticals have agreed to develop a biosimilar, or generic, form of erythropoietin (EPO), a biopharmaceutical used primarily to treat anemia in dialysis patients. The companies claim the collaboration could result in one of the first generic forms of the drug available in Europe, where EPO sales are about $1.4 billion annually. Earlier this year, Sandoz received FDA approval for its human growth hormone Omnitrope, the first biosimilar version of a previously approved biotech drug in the U.S.