Merck, Samsung to co-develop biosimilars
Hannah Blake
pharmaphorum
Global healthcare leader, Merck, has entered into an agreement with Samsung Bioepis Co to develop and commercialize multiple biosimilars. Samsung Bioepis is a joint venture between Samsung Biologics and Biogen Idec, which aims to develop affordable and high-quality biopharmaceutical and biosimilar products.
As part of the agreement, Samsung Bioepis will be responsible for preclinical and clinical development, process development and manufacturing, clinical trials and registration, while Merck will be responsible for commercialization.
Samsung Bioepis will receive an upfront payment from Merck and will be eligible for additional payments associated with pre-specified clinical and regulatory milestones.
“The combination of Merck’s global commercial presence with Samsung Bioepis’ biologic development and manufacturing capabilities positions the two companies well to increase access to biosimilars to improve human health. We look forward to this collaboration and its potential to complement our expanding internal biologics portfolio.”
Rich Murray, Ph.D., senior vice president, biologics and vaccines research, Merck Research Laboratories.
“Samsung Bioepis has been building the capabilities needed to develop high-quality biosimilars. With this development and commercialization agreement, Samsung takes a significant step toward becoming a major player in the biopharmaceutical industry.”
Christopher Hansung Ko, Ph.D., CEO of Samsung Bioepis.
Related news:
Merck, Samsung JV team up on biosimilar medicines (Bloomberg Business Week)
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