Pharma News

Amgen to buy out Japanese partner Astellas

Home/Pharma News | Posted 06/03/2020

US-based biotech giant Amgen has announced that it will dissolve its joint venture with the Japanese company Astellas in order to operate the unit independently. This means Astellas will become a wholly-owned Amgen affiliate.

Celltrion to build facility in China and increase new drug output

Home/Pharma News | Posted 28/02/2020

South Korean biotechnology company Celltrion has announced plans to build its first overseas factory in China. The company also intends to release one new biosimilar per year until 2030.

Merck to create spin off for women’s health and biosimilars

Home/Pharma News | Posted 21/02/2020

US pharma giant Merck is to create a spin-off company for its women’s health, biosimilars and legacy products, allowing the main company to focus on blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda (pembrolizumab).

US health insurers partner with generics maker Civica

Home/Pharma News | Posted 14/02/2020

The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA), a federation of health insurers in the US, has formed a partnership with generics manufacturer Civica Rx to reduce the costs of generic drugs.

Coherus signs licensing deal for bevacizumab biosimilar in the US

Home/Pharma News | Posted 07/02/2020

US-based Coherus BioSciences (Coherus) announced on 13 January 2020 that it had entered into a licensing agreement with Chinese biopharmaceutical firm Innovent Biologics (Innovent) for its bevacizumab product, IBI305.

Top 10 most read GaBI Online articles in 2019

Home/Pharma News | Posted 31/01/2020

It has once again been a busy year for biosimilars. One of the most important milestones for biosimilars in 2019 was the World Health Organization (WHO) pilot programme to prequalify rituximab and trastuzumab biosimilars. Other subjects of interest for biosimilars were US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) approvals, naming and regulation of biosimilars, as well as biosimilar guidance, uptake and switching.

Mundipharma and Samsung Bioepis partner for biosimilars in Hong Kong and Taiwan

Home/Pharma News | Posted 24/01/2020

Mundipharma announced on 13 January 2020 that it had entered into a partnership with Korea-based Samsung Bioepis (Samsung and Biogen’s joint venture) to commercialize four biosimilar candidates from Samsung Bioepis in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Japanese firms to collaborate on Eylea biosimilar

Home/Pharma News | Posted 10/01/2020

Japanese pharmaceutical firms Gene Techno Science and Kishi Kasei announced on 2 December 2019 an agreement for the joint development of an aflibercept biosimilar, a treatment for macular degeneration to rival the reference drug Eylea.

Samsung Bioepis expands biosimilars agreement with Biogen

Home/Pharma News | Posted 06/12/2019

Korean biosimilars giant Samsung Bioepis has extended its commercialization agreement with Biogen to include biosimilars to two ophthalmology drugs, Lucentis (ranibizumab) and Eylea (aflibercept). The agreement also allows Biogen to commercialize Samsung’s blockbuster anti-inflammatories in Europe for an additional five years.

Alvotech signs agreements with Stada and Yas Holding

Home/Pharma News | Posted 29/11/2019

Alvotech has entered into a strategic biosimilars collaboration with German company Stada. The company has also announced a significant investment from Abu Dhabi-based company Yas Holding for the exclusive supply of biosimilars in the Middle East and North Africa.

Lupin to sell its Japanese arm and Sandoz to acquire Aspen’s Japanese business

Home/Pharma News | Posted 22/11/2019

On 11 November 2019, India-based Lupin announced that it has agreed to sell its entire stake in its Japanese subsidiary Kyowa Pharmaceutical Industry Co to Japan-based private equity firm Unison Capital for an enterprise value of Yen 57.36 billion.

Alvogen gains exclusive rights to market parathyroid biosimilar in three countries

Home/Pharma News | Posted 15/11/2019

American pharmaceuticals firm Alvogen has announced exclusive commercialization agreements to distribute and market a teriparatide biosimilar in Canada, Israel and South Korea.

Biocon acquires Pfizer research facility and signs licensing agreement with Evotec

Home/Pharma News | Posted 08/11/2019

India-based biologicals specialist Biocon has announced the acquisition of a research and development facility from Pfizer Healthcare India Ltd and signed a strategic licensing agreement for an early-stage biosimilar with Evotec Biologics.

Lupin to sell Japanese injectables business and collaborates with German drugmaker on anticancer treatment

Home/Pharma News | Posted 25/10/2019

India-based generics manufacturer Lupin Ltd – the eighth biggest generics company in the world – has announced the sale of its Japanese injectables business to a subsidiary of the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) largest pharmaceutical manufacturer.

Further collaborations formed to penetrate China’s generics market

Home/Pharma News | Posted 18/10/2019

The Chinese pharmaceutical market is the second largest in the world, and generic drugs make up 70% of its value. Continued growth of China’s generics industry is anticipated owing to rapid population ageing and government policies to promote generics [1]. It is therefore not surprising that generic drug manufacturers are keen to penetrate this market, and indeed over the last few months there have been a number of collaborations with this objective [2-4]. Most recently, Japanese drugmakers Eisai and Nichi-Iko Pharmaceutical entered into a collaboration agreement to sell generic drugs in China, while Sun Pharmaceutical Industries (Sun Pharma) partnered with China Medical System Holdings (CMS) to develop and commercialise generics in China.

Celltrion contracts Lonza to manufacture autoimmune treatment Remsima

Home/Pharma News | Posted 04/10/2019

South Korean biosimilars manufacturer Celltrion have announced a deal with Swiss contract manufacturing organisation (CMO) Lonza to produce its autoimmune biosimilar Remsima at a facility in Singapore.

Shanghai Pharma and Russia’s Biocad form joint venture to sell cancer and autoimmune drugs in China

Home/Pharma News | Posted 27/09/2019

Shanghai Pharmaceuticals Holding and Russia’s Biocad Pharmaceutical have agreed to form a joint venture to develop, manufacture and market cancer and autoimmune disease treatments in China.

Sandoz makes deal with Polpharma for natalizumab biosimilar

Home/Pharma News | Posted 20/09/2019

Sandoz, the generics division of Novartis, and Poland-based Polpharma Biologics announced on 3 September 2019 that they had signed a worldwide agreement giving Sandoz commercialization rights to Polpharma’s candidate natalizumab biosimilar (PB006).

Huons enters biosimilar market while private equity firm PAG invests in Hisun BioRay

Home/Pharma News | Posted 13/09/2019

Huons has announced its plans to enter the biosimilar market, and private equity firm PAG has acquired a controlling interesting in Hisun Pharmaceutical’s biopharmaceutical subsidiary, Hisun BioRay.

Alvotech and Cipla Gulf partnership announced

Home/Pharma News | Posted 30/08/2019

On 29 July 2019, pharmaceutical companies Alvotech and Cipla Gulf announced that they have entered into an exclusive partnership for the commercialization of an adalimumab biosimilar (AVT02), in a selection of emerging markets.