Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (TEVA), Celltrion, Team Up To Market mAb Biosimilars

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA) recently entered into an exclusive agreement with Celltrion, Inc. to commercialize P10 and CT-P6, the latter’s two monoclonal antibody (mAb) biosimilar candidates. The deal covers North America.

New Partnership

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA) will pay $160 million to Celltrion in an upfront payment. A maximum $60 million of the upfront payment is refundable under certain circumstances. Both companies will share the resulting revenues in North America. John Carroll, a biotech analyst, tweeted the following yesterday on the deal:

Teva hands Celltrion $160M to grab US rights on two biosimilars of Roche blockbustershttps://t.co/ejqXCqCsFa

— John Carroll (@JohnCendpts) October 6, 2016

Siggi Olafsson, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries CEO and President of Global Generic Medicines, believes that the new deal with Celltrion, one of the leaders in mAb biosimilar development, will solidify the company’s position in the biosimilar landscape.

“The introduction of two additional mAb biosimilar candidates into our near-term pipeline bolsters our biosimilar portfolio and continues to leverage Teva’s unique cross-functional capabilities across both specialty and generic medicines,” elaborated Olafsson.

Under the terms of the agreement, Teva will be responsible for the commercialization of the mAb biosimilar candidates once commercially approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Meanwhile, Celltrion will be responsible for the completion of all clinical development programs and regulatory activities.

Rob Koremans, M.D., Teva CEO and President of Global Specialty Medicines, has noted that the company is pleased to collaborate with Celltrion to bring new biosimilar treatments in North America. Koremans has boasted that the deal continues to strengthen the commitment of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA) to helping patients in the best possible way.

mAb Biosimilar Candidates

CT-P10 is a mAb biosimilar to Rituxan (rituximab), which is a treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), microscopic polyangiitis (MPA), non-hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and Wegener’s granulomatosis patients.

CT-P6 is a mAb biosimilar to Herceptin (trastuzumab), which is a treatment for HER2-overexpressing breast cancer and HER2-overexpressing metastatic gastric or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.

Presently, both mAb biosimilar candidates are under their respective late-stage Phase 3 clinical trials.

Last year, Celltrion has already submitted CT-P10 data to the European Medicines Agency (CMA) for approval. It is also preparing to submit CT-P6 data to the EMA for approval this quarter.

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries closed at $45.40 on Thursday.

Note: This article is written by Adam Russell and originally published at Market Exclusive.