Sandoz to buy eye drug Cimerli business from Coherus BioSciences for over Rs 1413 crore
Basel: Sandoz has signed an agreement to acquire the US biosimilar ranibizumab CIMERLI (ranibizumab-eqrn) from Coherus BioSciences, Inc. for an upfront cash purchase payment of USD 170 million. This is inclusive of a biologics license application, product inventory, ophthalmology sales and field reimbursement talent, as well as access to proprietary commercial software.
CIMERLI solution for injection 0.3 mg (6 mg/mL) and 0.5 mg (10 mg/mL) is an FDA-approved biosimilar to reference product LUCENTIS (ranibizumab injection) that is indicated for the treatment of multiple retinal diseases including wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD), diabetic macular edema (DME), macular edema following retinal vein occlusion (RVO), myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV) and diabetic retinopathy (DR). CIMERLI is an anti-VEGF therapy within a class of biologics that helps retinal patients maintain or gain vision.
Keren Haruvi, President Sandoz North America stated, “I am pleased that we can add another high-value product to the growing Sandoz biosimilar portfolio, further strengthening our existing ophthalmology franchise. The addition of CIMERLI reinforces our commitment to biosimilars and represents a huge step towards our goal of pioneering patient access to more affordable and much-needed medicines in the US.”
"Sandoz looks forward to providing even more treatment options for US patients with vision impairment and loss. The agreement to acquire the CIMERLI* business from Coherus allows us to build a more robust ophthalmic platform that would support future product launches," Sandoz stated in a release.
Closing is anticipated in 1H 2024, subject to standard conditions and approvals.
CIMERLI was approved by the FDA in August 2022, having met FDA’s rigorous standards of biosimilarity to the reference product, including safety, efficacy, and quality. Launched in October 2022, it is the FDA-approved biosimilar interchangeable with LUCENTIS for all indications.
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