PrintSamsung, South Korea’s largest conglomerate and a global electronics powerhouse, is aiming to become a major player in the medical arena to drive growth. It has teamed up with Quintiles Transnational, a U.S.-based global contract services company, to form a joint venture that will focus on biosimilars, copies of top selling biologics that have lost patent protection. The company plans to target Johnson & Johnson’s arthritis drug Remicade and Roche and Biogen Idec’s cancer drug Rituxan, among others.
The joint venture will be will be funded with $266 million and start building a plant in Incheon, South Korea in the first half of the year that will make biosimilars, Samsung said in a statement. Samsung Electronics and Samsung Everland will each own a 40 percent stake in the venture, with Samsung C&T and Quintiles each holding 10 percent, Samsung said in a statement. The affiliates will focus on production, while Quintiles will help develop technologies. Samsung plans to begin supplying biosimilars in the first half of 2013, as they come off patent, and sell them worldwide.
Samsung first announced its intentions to enter the biosimilars market in 2009, targeting the biomedical market as a hot area for growth in light of the aging world population. Biologics currently make up five of the world’s ten best-selling drugs. In 2010, the maker of mobile phones and TVs said it would invest up to $1.9 billion over the next ten years to build up its biomedical business.
The Korean government is also backing the development of biosimilars with a goal of snaring 22 percent of global market share by 2020. Its government has said the global biosimilars market could be worth $14.5 billion by 2015 and will experience a huge growth spurt as many blockbuster biologics begin to lose patent protection. It had already enlisted Samsung as a partner in its effort to develop the sector in the country.
Samsung Group may also set up another biosimilar joint venture, executive vice president Kim Tae Han said in a press briefing, reported Bloomberg. He said that Samsung plans to ultimately produce its own biopharmaceuticals after gaining experience making them. Samsung plans to spend about half of its $1.9 billion budget on developing biosimilars and use the other half to build factories, according to Kim, as reported by Bloomberg.
DEALS FOR THE WEEK ENDING FEBRUARY 25, 2011
| Global Venture Financings | |||
| Company | Location | Amount Raised (USD M) | Principal Activity |
| NeoVista | Fremont, CA | 33.8 | Therapeutics |
| Predictus BioSciences | West Roxbury, MA | 0.7 | Diagnostics |
| Acetylon Pharmaceuticals | Boston, MA | 12.4 | Therapeutics |
| Biopharmacopae Design | Canada | 2.0 | Wellness |
| HTG | Tuscon, AZ | 15.7 | Tools/Technology |
| Pharmaron Holding | Beijing, China | 40.0 | CRO |
| Amendia | Marietta, GA | 5.0 | Medical devices |
| Total Raised US | 42.0 | ||
| Total Raised Non-US | 67.6 | ||
| Grants and Contracts | |||
| Company | Funding Agency | Amount Raised (USD M) | Principal Activity |
| Chembio Diagnostics | NIH SBIR Phase II grant | 2.9 | Rapid test for TB |
| Biocryst Pharmaceuticals | HHS Contract | 55 | Influenza drug |
| Total Grants and Contracts | 57.9 | ||
| Public Financings | |||
| Company | Ticker | Amount Raised (USD M) |
Financing Type |
| Rosetta Green (Israel) | TASE:RSTG | 6.1 | IPO |
| Zhejiang Jolly Pharmaceutical (China) | SHE:300181 | 71.5 | IPO |
| Amorfix Life Sciences (Canada) | TSX:AMF | 0.1 | PIPE |
| Biotec Pharmacon (Norway) | OSE:BIOTEC | 1.3 | PIPE |
| ImmunoCellular Therapeutics | OTC:IMUC | 8.1 | PIPE |
| Intercell (Austria) | Vienna:ICLL | 45.6 | PIPE |
| Mazor Robotics (Israel) | TASE:MZOR | 6.3 | PIPE |
| Chelsea Therapeutics | CHTP | 35.0 | Follow on |
| Palatin Technologies | PTN | 23.0 | Follow on |
| GLG Life Tech (Canada) | TSX:GLG | 58.2 | Follow on |
| PLC Systems | OTC:PLCSF | 4.0 | Debt |
| CytoSorbents | OTC:CTSO | 1.3 | Debt |
| SemBioSys Genetics (Canada) | TSX:SBS | 4.0 | Debt |
| Total Public Financings-US | 71.4 | ||
| Total Public Financings-Non-US | 193.1 | ||
| M&A | |||
| Acquirer | Target | Deal Value (USD M) |
Focus |
| Forest Laboratories | Clinical Data | 1,200.0 | Specialty pharma |
| Quest Diagnostics | Athena Diagnostics (Thermo Fisher Scientific) | 740.0 | Diagnostics |
| Gilead Sciences | Calistoga Pharmaceuticals | 600.0 | Cancer |
| Kyowa Hakko Kirin (Japan) | Pro Strakan Group (United Kingdom) | 474.0 | Cancer |
| Eurofins Scientific (Belgium) | Lancaster Laboratories (Thermo Fisher Scientific | 200.0 | Contract services |
| Viropro | Alpha Biologics (Malaysia) | 21.0 | CMO |
| Sun Pharmaceuticals (India) | Caraco Pharmaceuticals Laboratories | N/A | Generics |
| Monsanto | Divergence | N/A | Agbio |
| TiGenix (Belgium) | Cellerix (Spain) | N/A | Cell therapy |
| Alliances | |||
| Company/Licenser | Company/Licensee | Deal Value (USD M) |
Focus |
| Quintiles | Samsung (Korea) | 265.5 | Biosimilars joint venture |
| ViroMed (Korea) | Enlyton | 4.7 | Molecular imaging license |
| Avantra Biosciences | MedTrust Online | N/A | Diagnostics partnership |
| Grifols (Spain) | Novartis (Switzerland) | N/A | Diagnostics marketing agreement |
| Naviscan | Neoprobe | N/A | Imaging technology collaboration |
| Allon Pharmaceuticals | LambdaGen | N/A | Drug development collaboration |
| Proacta | Yakult Honsha (Japan) | N/A | Cancer drug development collaboration |
| Cell Signaling Technology | Astellas Pharma (Japan) | N/A | Personalized medicine partnership |
| Covaris | Caliper Life Sciences | N/A | Next-gen sequencing co-marketing agreement |
| Ingenuity Systems | Covance | N/A | Next-gen sequencing collaboration |
| PPD | Elan (Ireland) | N/A | Drug development collaboration |
| Amyris | Givaudan (Switzerland) | N/A | Renewable chemicals partnership |
| bioMerieux (France) | Ipsen (France) | N/A | Personalized medicine partnership |
February 25, 2011
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-samsung_and_quintiles_team_up_to_make_biosimilars.html
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