Pharma News
Fresenius Kabi to acquire Akorn and Merck KGaA’s biosimilars business
Fresenius Kabi, one of the independently operated business segments of global healthcare group Fresenius, announced on 24 April 2017 that it had made two deals ‘to strengthen and diversify’ its business.
Samsung BioLogics and Aurobindo investing in biosimilars
Both Samsung and Aurobindo see a bright future for biosimilars. Samsung BioLogics, which is the specialized biotechnology arm of Samsung, raised almost US$2 billion in November 2016 via an initial public offering (IPO) that valued the company at US$7.9 billion. This, according to Robert Wessman, Chairman and CEO at Alvogen, ‘underlines the confidence of the market in biosimilar companies’. Especially when considering that Samsung BioLogics only came into existence in 2011 [1].
Merck KGaA to sell off biosimilars business
Germany’s drugmaker Merck KGaA (Merck Group) is to sell its biosimilars division, according to a statement made in its 2016 annual report.
Australians pay too much for prescription drugs
Australians are paying way too much for their prescription drugs, according to a new report released in March 2017 by the Grattan Institute, an independent, non-partisan think tank.
CinnaGen to invest in Turkish pharmaceuticals sector
Turkey’s health minister, Mehmet Muezzinoglu, has announced that the country is planning to produce medicines locally by attracting foreign investors. The strategy aims to reduce healthcare spending in the country and reduce its reliance on imports of medicines from foreign countries.
Intas enters top 20 generics firms through Actavis purchase
Intas Pharmaceuticals (Intas) has completed a deal to acquire Actavis UK and Actavis Ireland (Actavis UK and Ireland) from Teva Pharmaceutical (Teva) for over GBP 600 million.
Baxter expands injectables portfolio with purchase of Claris Injectables
US-based Baxter International Inc (Baxter) has announced its acquisition of India’s Claris Injectables Ltd, which will enhance the company’s position in the global injectables market.
Mabion signs agreement with Mylan for rituximab biosimilar
Global specialty pharmaceuticals firm Mylan has reached an agreement with Mabion, a leading biotechnology company in Poland, for the exclusive right to commercialize their rituximab biosimilar candidate in the European Union (EU).
Eagle moves into biosimilars with Arsia acquisition
Specialty pharmaceuticals company Eagle Pharmaceuticals (Eagle) has signed an agreement to acquire Arsia Therapeutics (Arsia), the biotechnology company behind cutting-edge technology that enables intravenous drugs to be administered by injection.
Top 10 most read GaBI Online articles in 2016
It has once again been a busy year for biosimilars. An important milestone for biosimilars in 2016 was the adoption by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) of new guidance on monitoring biologicals. While the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals of infliximab and adalimumab biosimilars were also important events in 2016. Other subjects of interest for biosimilars were the differences between biosimilars and reference biologicals, biosimilarity and switching biosimilars. Biosimilars remain the hot topic for GaBI Online during 2016.
