US biotechnology company Biogen Idec (Biogen) and Korean electronics giant Samsung announced on 17 December 2013 that Biogen has exercised its right to enter into an agreement to commercialize anti-tumour necrosis factor (TNF) biosimilar product candidates in Europe.
Biogen will manufacture and market in Europe a number of anti-TNF biosimilars for inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohn’s disease. The agreement is part of the joint venture (called Samsung Bioepsis) Biogen made back in December 2011 with Samsung’s specialized biologicals unit, Samsung Biologics [1].
Mr Tony Kingsley, Biogen’s Executive Vice President of Global Commercial Operations viewed the deal as 'a unique opportunity for us to leverage our experience in developing and manufacturing high-quality biologic[al]s in therapeutic areas where we are deeply focused’. While Mr Christopher Hansung Ko, CEO of Samsung Bioepis, believes that 'this agreement will further serve as a solid foundation for Samsung Bioepis to develop into a worldwide biosimilar leader’.
Samsung plans to launch biosimilars by 2015 at half the price that patients in the US and Europe currently pay and is expecting to achieve annual revenues from biologicals of US$1.8 trillion by 2020 [2].
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