Biocon Biologics Receives Health Canada Approval for Yesafili™ (aflibercept); First Global Launch Scheduled for July 2025
TORONTO, Ontario, Canada and BENGALURU, Karnataka, India, June 27, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Biocon Biologics Ltd. (BBL), a fully integrated global biosimilars company and subsidiary of Biocon Ltd. (BSE code: 532523, NSE: BIOCON), is pleased to announce that Health Canada has granted a Notice of Compliance (NOC) for Yesafili™ (aflibercept), a biosimilar to Eylea® (aflibercept) injection, in vial and prefilled syringe presentations, 2 mg/0.05 mL on June 26, 2025. This approval paves the way for the launch of YESAFILI in Canada, scheduled for July 4, 2025. YESAFILI is the first biosimilar to EYLEA to be approved by Health Canada.
YESAFILI is a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor indicated for the treatment of:
Neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
Visual impairment due to macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO)
Visual impairment due to macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO)
Diabetic macular edema (DME)
Myopic choroidal neovascularization (myopic CNV)
The approval is based on a comprehensive package of analytical, nonclinical, and clinical data, confirming that YESAFILI is highly similar with no clinically meaningful differences to EYLEA in terms of quality, safety, and efficacy.
Shreehas Tambe, CEO & Managing Director, Biocon Biologics Ltd., said: 'The approval of YESAFILI by Health Canada—the first biosimilar to EYLEA® in Canada—is a proud moment for Biocon Biologics. We are excited that in July, Canada will be the first country where we will launch YESAFILI, making it our 10th biosimilar to be commercialized worldwide. This milestone reflects our science-driven innovation, global commercialization strength, and continued commitment to expanding access to high-quality, affordable biologics for patients across the globe.'
Ramy Ayad, Head of Canada at Biocon Biologics, stated: 'This is a significant achievement for Biocon Biologics in Canada. With the approval of YESAFILI, we are delivering on our promise to improve access to advanced biologic therapies. Canadian ophthalmologists and patients will soon have a high-quality, affordable biosimilar option for serious retinal diseases.'
About YESAFILI™:The approval for YESAFILI (aflibercept) was based on a comprehensive package of analytical, nonclinical, and clinical data, which confirmed that YESAFILI is highly similar to EYLEA. In a Phase 3 INSIGHT Study, YESAFILI was compared with EYLEA in patients with Diabetic Macular Edema. This study demonstrated that there were no clinically meaningful differences between YESAFILI and EYLEA in terms of pharmacokinetics, safety, efficacy, and immunogenicity.
Indications and Usage:
Treatment with YESAFILI (aflibercept) is for intravitreal injection only.
YESAFILI is a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor indicated for the treatment of patients with:
Neovascular (Wet) Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)
Visual impairment due to macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO)
Visual impairment due to macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO)
Diabetic Macular Edema (DME)
Myopic choroidal neovascularization (myopic CNV)
Warnings and Precautions:
YESAFILI is contraindicated in patients with ocular or periocular infection, active intraocular inflammation, and hypersensitivity to aflibercept, to any ingredient in the formulation or to any component of the container.
Patients may experience temporary visual disturbances after an intravitreal injection with YESAFILI and the associated eye examinations. They should not drive or use machines until visual function has recovered sufficiently.
Hypersensitivity reactions may manifest as rash, pruritus, urticaria, severe anaphylactic/ anaphylactoid reactions, or severe intraocular inflammation.
Endophthalmitis, retinal detachment, retinal tear, retinal pigment epithelium tear, cataract including traumatic cataract, vitreous hemorrhage and hyphema, may occur following intravitreal injections.
Retinal vasculitis and retinal occlusive vasculitis, typically in the presence of intraocular inflammation or treatment with other intravitreal agents.
Increases in intraocular pressure have been observed within 60 minutes of an intravitreal injection
Please refer to full Product Monograph for YESAFILI for more information.
To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Biocon Biologics at 1-833-986-1468.
YESAFILI is a trademark of a Biocon Biologics Company.BIOCON BIOLOGICS and the Biocon Biologics Logo are trademarks of Biocon Biologics Limited. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
About Biocon Biologics Limited:
Biocon Biologics Limited, a subsidiary of Biocon Limited, is a unique, fully integrated, global biosimilars company committed to transforming healthcare and transforming lives. It is capitalizing on its 'lab to market' capabilities to serve over 5.8 million patients across 120+ countries by enabling affordable access to high quality biosimilars. The Company is leveraging cutting-edge science, innovative tech platforms, global scale manufacturing capabilities and world-class quality systems to lower costs of biological therapeutics while improving healthcare outcomes.
Biocon Biologics has commercialized nine biosimilars from its portfolio which are addressing the patients' needs in key emerging markets and advanced markets like U.S., Europe, Australia, Canada, and Japan. It has a pipeline of 20 biosimilar assets across diabetology, oncology, immunology, ophthalmology, bone health and other non-communicable diseases. The Company has many 'firsts' to its credit in the biosimilars industry. As part of its environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitment, it is advancing the health of patients, people, and the planet to achieve key UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Website: www.bioconbiologics.com; Follow us on X (formerly Twitter): @BioconBiologics and LinkedIn: Biocon Biologics for company updates. For FY24 Integrated Annual Report of Biocon Biologics click here
Biocon Limited, publicly listed in 2004, (BSE code: 532523, NSE Id: BIOCON, ISIN Id: INE376G01013) is an innovation-led global biopharmaceuticals company committed to enhance affordable access to complex therapies for chronic conditions like diabetes, cancer and autoimmune. It has developed and commercialized novel biologics, biosimilars, and complex small molecule APIs in India and several key global markets as well as Generic Formulations in the US, Europe & key emerging markets. It also has a pipeline of promising novel assets in immunotherapy under development. Website: www.biocon.com; Follow-us on X (formerly Twitter) @bioconlimited and LinkedIn: Biocon for company updates.
Forward-Looking Statements: BioconThis press release may include statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements based on management's current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects upon Biocon and its subsidiaries/ associates. These forward-looking statements involve known or unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations include, amongst other: general economic and business conditions in India and overseas, our ability to successfully implement our strategy, our research and development efforts, our growth and expansion plans and technological changes, changes in the value of the Rupee and other currency changes, changes in the Indian and international interest rates, change in laws and regulations that apply to the Indian and global biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industries, increasing competition in and the conditions of the Indian and global biotechnology and pharmaceuticals industries, changes in political conditions in India and changes in the foreign exchange control regulations in India. Neither Biocon, nor our Directors, or any of our subsidiaries/associates assume any obligation to update any particular forward-looking statement contained in this release.
For More Information: Biocon Biologics
MEDIA
INVESTORS
Seema AhujaGlobal Head of Corporate Brand & Head of Communications – Emerging Markets +91 99723 17792seema.ahuja@biocon.com Lance LongwellPublic Relations Lead – Advanced Markets +1 857 270 4391lance.longwell@biocon.com
Saurabh PaliwalHead - Investor RelationsBiocon +91 95383 80801 saurabh.paliwal@biocon.com
CONTACT: Lance Longwell Biocon Biologics Ltd 857-270-4391 lance.longwell@biocon.com
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Washington Post
14 minutes ago
- Washington Post
Live updates: More hurdles emerge for passing Trump's massive legislative package by July 4
The Senate faces mounting challenges as it seeks to meet a self-imposed July 4 deadline to get President Donald Trump's massive tax and immigration legislation to his desk. Among those obstacles: persistent doubts about proposed Medicaid cuts from some Republican members and adverse rulings from the Senate parliamentarian that have cut parts of the package. Plans to start voting Friday appear unlikely at this point. At the White House, Trump plans to host the foreign ministers of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. The two African nations are set to sign a peace deal facilitated by the United States to help end decades-long fighting. American cities have a serious problem. The Trump administration, in an effort to encourage different communities to comply with a series of policy positions, is working to claw back billions of dollars in federal funding that cities across the country rely on. Internal dissent is mounting among Republicans over how President Donald Trump's mammoth tax and immigration legislation would cut health-care funding, even as the GOP's self-imposed deadline nears. The GOP has hopes to put the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — a $3.3 trillion measure to extend tax cuts, add some new tax breaks, boost immigration enforcement, begin building Trump's 'Golden Dome' missile defense program and more — on the president's desk by Independence Day. The U.S. DOGE Service has sent staff to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the goal of revising or eliminating dozens of rules and gun restrictions by July 4, according to multiple people with knowledge of the efforts, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss plans that have not been made public. Senators left a classified briefing about the impact of U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities split along party lines, with Republicans saying it reinforced their belief that the strikes were effective and some Democrats complaining that it did not fully answer their questions.
Yahoo
14 minutes ago
- Yahoo
European Allies Wary of Buying American as They Plan Defense Buildup
(Bloomberg) -- For European countries that just approved the biggest increase in military spending in decades, 'Buy American' is looking a lot less appealing than it once was. They may have no choice. Philadelphia Transit System Votes to Cut Service by 45%, Hike Fares US Renters Face Storm of Rising Costs Squeezed by Crowds, the Roads of Central Park Are Being Reimagined Mapping the Architectural History of New York's Chinatown US State Budget Wounds Intensify From Trump, DOGE Policy Shifts As the allies rush to rebuild their fighting forces, leaders are confronting the reality that they'll have to rely on the US for many of the new weapons they're planning to buy, a sales pitch driven home by President Donald Trump on his visit to Europe this week. They fret that they may be put at greater risk if they deepen their dependence on a US whose president has embraced their main enemy - Russia - and rattled some with threats to annex their territory. Those deeper ties have become an increasingly hard sell at home, with electorates cautious about a closer embrace with the US. Allied leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron have pushed for relying on European companies to provide the weapons and the EU fast-tracked a €150 billion facility for just that purpose after Trump was elected. Canada is considering pulling out of the US-led F-35 fighter program and buying Swedish planes instead. 'We should no longer send three-quarters of our defense capital spending to America,' Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said earlier this month. When a group of US legislators went to Copenhagen this spring to encourage Danish officials to buy more US weapons, the message they got was clear: we like your arms, but Trump's very public threats to take over Greenland, a Danish territory, were making buying them politically difficult, according to a person familiar with the meeting. Some Danish politicians have gone further. 'Buying American weapons is a security risk that we cannot run,' Rasmus Jarlov, a conservative lawmaker who heads the defense committee in parliament, said in a post on social media platform X in March. Trump's abrupt decision to briefly suspend intelligence sharing with Ukraine earlier this year alarmed allies, according to officials, fueling fears that the US might hobble American-made weapons in a crisis. The worries got so bad that the Pentagon had to issue a public reassurance that the F-35 fighter didn't have a 'kill switch.' But the planned buildup — worth as much as €14 trillion ($16 trillion) over the next decade if related infrastructure is included, according to Carlyle — is far beyond the current capabilities of a fragmented European defense sector that's been hollowed out by decades of cuts since the end of the Cold War. And the US lead in key areas, especially missiles and other high-tech weapons, means there's often no real alternative to buying American. 'For those countries that are assuming that they can immediately pivot to a world where Europeans will only purchase European-made capabilities, I think that is entirely unrealistic for the foreseeable future,' said Julianne Smith, a former US Ambassador to NATO, now at Clarion Strategies. Tuure Lehtoranta, a senior executive at Finnish defense-tech firm Insta Group Oy, said: 'There's not enough production, there's not enough design in some areas.' German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose government is planning to nearly double spending on core defense items this year, said the European industry needs an overhaul to meet the demand. 'We have far too many systems in Europe, we have far too few units, and what we produce is often far too complicated, and therefore too expensive as a result,' he said this week. At the Paris Air Show last week, executives from Airbus SE and Dassault Aviation SA sparred openly over who should take charge of their next-generation fighter jet project. European allies will have no alternative but to buy American weapons to meet alliance targets, especially with stocks depleted by supplies given to Ukraine, a senior NATO official said, asking not to be identified discussing a sensitive issue. Allies also lack key technologies. 'Who is the European Palantir? Who is the European Planet?' asked Pierre Vandier, a top NATO commander, referring to the US technology and satellite companies that the alliance recently signed contracts with. 'It's a huge stimulus for Europeans to do all they can. If they don't get started now they can't cry if there are violent power struggles later.' Europe Depends on US Weapons Europe has no rivals as advanced as Lockheed Martin Corp's F-35 fighter or RTX Corp's Patriot anti-missile, which has been critical to protecting Ukraine from Russian attacks. Allies have no competitors for key capabilities like ballistic-missile defense and air-to-air refueling. While simpler weapons like howitzers are easier for allies to produce, they still require US satellite systems for precision targeting. The UK said this week it would buy at least a dozen new F-35As, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer hopes will help curry favor with Trump. European defense companies are hopeful. They've seen share-price increases of 50% or more this year, ahead even of the big gains of their US competitors, as investors anticipate the huge boost in business. 'More urgency is there now,' Micael Johansson, chief executive officer of Saab AB, which makes Gripen fighters, said in an interview. 'I wouldn't say we have seen a dramatic shift now to buy more European, but I think that's the trend.' US defense contractors are lining up cooperation deals with European counterparts to hedge against any shift away from American weapons. 'As these European defense budgets increase, that's where we're spending our time,' Stephen O'Bryan, president of Northrop Grumman Corp's international business, said in an interview, referring to partnerships in Norway, Germany and Denmark. Lehtoranta of Insta said his company already partners with big US manufacturers like Lockheed Martin, including by providing avionics maintenance and other support for F-35 jets. But they see American companies are even hungrier to join forces now. 'I can see in the US that it might be a little bit of a fear in the air. US companies think that they might lose opportunities if they don't find the right partners,' he said. 'There will be change, there will be probably more European investments in European factories and European acquisitions, but still we cannot survive without the US industries.' --With assistance from Wojciech Moskwa, Thomas Seal, Matthew Boesler, Michael Nienaber, Sanne Wass and Alex Wickham. (Updates with quote by former US ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith in the 10th paragraph.) America's Top Consumer-Sentiment Economist Is Worried How to Steal a House Inside Gap's Last-Ditch, Tariff-Addled Turnaround Push Apple Test-Drives Big-Screen Movie Strategy With F1 Luxury Counterfeiters Keep Outsmarting the Makers of $10,000 Handbags ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


Medscape
15 minutes ago
- Medscape
New ACIP Supports Previous Universal Flu Vaccination
The CDC's newly appointed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) voted to recommend annual influenza vaccination for all persons aged 6 months or older with no contraindications. Of the seven members who participated in the vote, the vote was yes to recommend vaccination from six members, with one abstention. The 2024-2025 flu season was classified as high severity across all age groups, said Vivien Dugan, MD, of the CDC's Influenza Division. In children younger than 18 years, a total of 246 influenza-associated deaths from the 2024-2025 season have been reported as of June 7, 2025, she said. Dugan also presented estimates of the disease burden of influenza and the alleviation of this burden via vaccines. Data from multiple surveillance networks showed an overall vaccine coverage rate ranging from 38% to 56% for outpatient visits and 35% to 71% for inpatient visits, with variation by age group and flu type, she said. 'Estimated influenza disease burden was the highest the US has seen in the last decade,' she noted in her presentation. However, vaccination likely prevented approximately 240,000 influenza-related hospitalizations, mainly in adults aged 65 years or older, she said. Flu Vaccination Options Increase Options for influenza vaccination for the upcoming season include not only an injectable vaccine but also the needle-free FluMist nasal spray (live attenuated influenza vaccine, trivalent). A recombinant flu vaccine (Flublok) contains no eggs and was recently approved for use in individuals aged 9 years or older by the FDA after an extensive review of safety and efficacy data. Some of these data were shared at the ACIP meeting. Pedro Folegatti, MD, an employee of Flublok manufacturer Sanofi, presented data on the safety and effectiveness of the latest quadrivalent flu vaccine (RIV4) among individuals aged 9-17 years compared with those aged 18-49 years in a phase 3 study. The RIV4 showed similar safety and effectiveness in a younger age group, with noninferiority of hemagglutination inhibition immune response and a similar safety profile. A trivalent Flublok was approved by the FDA in March 2025 for individuals aged 9 years or older, according to an approval letter. Discuss Different Delivery Systems With Patients 'As influenza vaccines are recommended for all individuals over 6 months of age, having multiple products available increases accessibility, particularly in the rare event that a child has a contraindication to other currently available flu vaccines,' said Lori Handy, MD, MSCE, associate director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, in an interview. Having a supply of influenza vaccine that does not rely on eggs puts the US in a better position in the event of influenza pandemics or egg shortages, she noted. Although it is hard to predict whether parents have preferences for different manufacturing processes, the expanded Flublok indication may improve vaccination rates, Handy said. Vaccine Components Similar to Last Year Dugan also presented the influenza vaccine composition for the 2025-2026 season, which includes: ● A/Victoria/4897/2022 (H1N1) pdm09-like virus for egg-based vaccines or an A/Wisconsin/67/2022 (H1N1) pdm09-like virus for cell and recombinant vaccines ● A/Croatia/Y10136RV/2023 (H3N2)-like virus for egg-based vaccines or an A/District of Columbia/27/2023 (H3N2)-like virus for cell and recombinant vaccines ● B/Austria/1359417/2021 (B/Victoria lineage)-like virus The next ACIP meeting is tentatively scheduled for the third quarter of 2025. The study on Flublok was sponsored by manufacturer Sanofi, and Folegatti is employed by Sanofi.