Biogen scoops up eye and anti-TNF drug rights from Samsung Bioepis in $300m deal
pharmafile | November 7, 2019 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Biogen, Samsung Bioepis, pharma
Biogen has struck a new deal with Samsung Bioepis, it has emerged, picking up the commercialisation rights to a raft of drugs including two new ophthalmology biosimilars and a range of anti-TNF therapies.
Specifically, the partnership gives Biogen the exclusive rights to market both SB11, a biosimilar of Lucentis, and SB15, a biosimilar of Eylea, in the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia, in a bid to expand its offering in the eye therapy space. These two drugs brought in sales of $11 billion in 2018, with $5.8 billion of that made in the US alone.
Additionally, Biogen will also receive exclusive commercialisation rights to a range of anti-TNF drugs including Benepali (etanercept), Flixabi (infliximab) and Imraldi (adalimumab) in China, with the option to extend these rights to the European market down the line. Biogen said it hopes that the uptake of these drugs in the European market could lead to healthcare savings of around €1.8 billion in 2019.
Biogen confirmed it will pay $100 million upfront to Samsung, with up to $210 million potentially coming later in the form of development, regulatory and commercialisation payments.
“We believe savings enabled by biosimilars provide payers and health systems globally the budgetary headroom to fund innovation” commented Chirfi Guindo, Executive Vice President and Head of Global Product Strategy and Commercialization at Biogen. “According to a 2017 RAND Report, in the US alone savings generated from biosimilar uptake could reach as high as $150 billion over a ten-year period. We look forward to expanding our biosimilars portfolio in major markets worldwide.”
Michel Vounatsos, Biogen’s Chief Executive Officer, also remarked: “We are excited about the potential to bring biosimilars to a new therapeutic area as well as new regions around the world with the goal of sustainably advancing broad access to care for patients in need. This transaction would expand the potential for our leading biosimilars business worldwide, while complementing Biogen’s presence in ophthalmology.”
Matt Fellows
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