Global Briefs: Novo Nordisk, Coherus & More
A roundup of news from Novo Nordisk, Novavax, Coherus BioSciences and Intas Pharmaceuticals. Highlights below.
General
* Novo Nordisk Investing $411 M in New Quality Control Facility
Mfg News
* Novo Nordisk To Acquire Czech Mfg Facility from Novavax for $200 M
M&A News
* Coherus To Sell Biosimilar to Intas for $558 M
General
Novo Nordisk To Build $411-M Quality Control Center
Novo Nordisk has announced plans to invest DKK 2.9 billion ($411 million) to establish a quality control laboratory at the company’s site in Hillerød, Denmark. The new facility, covering 53,000 square meters, will be the company’s largest investment in advanced quality control to date (as reported on December 2024).
The new laboratory will serve as a central hub for quality control operations in Denmark, consolidating existing locations into a single facility. It is designed to comply with the demands of current and future GMP and will be able to support future capacity expansions.
The facility will be built using sustainable materials wherever possible, including CO2-reduced concrete for the building superstructure and CO2-reduced bricks for the façade. Construction of the laboratory has been initiated and is slated to be finalized in 2027.
Source: Novo Nordisk
Mfg News
Novo Nordisk To Acquire Czech Mfg Facility from Novavax for $200 M
Novo Nordisk has agreed to acquire from Novavax, a Gaithersburg, Maryland-based vaccine company, a manufacturing facility and related assets in Bohumil, Czech Republic, for $200 million. The agreement includes a transfer of assets, including a 150,000-square-foot recombinant protein manufacturing facility with support buildings, along with the existing workforce and all related and required infrastructure.
In addition to the $190-million cash payment in 2024 and additional $10 million in 2025, Novavax expects the sale of the facility to result in annual operating cost reductions of approximately $80 million. Following closure of the agreement, expected by December 30, 2024, full responsibility for the manufacturing facility will be transferred to Novo Nordisk.
Source: Novavax
M&A News
Coherus To Sell Chemo Drug Biosimilar to Intas for $558 M
Coherus BioSciences, a Redwood City, California-based bio/pharmaceutical company, has agreed to sell its Udenyca (pegfilgrastim-cbqv) franchise, a biosimilar to Amgen’s Neulasta and related assets to Intas Pharmaceuticals, an Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India-based bio/pharmaceutical company and CDMO, for up to $558 million. The drug is used to treat neutropenia (low white blood cells) as a side effect of cancer treatment.
Under the agreement, Coherus will receive an upfront cash payment of $483.4 million, subject to closing adjustments for final inventory valuation, plus two net sales milestone payments totaling $75.0 million. In exchange, Intas will receive identified assets related to the Udenyca franchise, including the Udenyca prefilled syringe, the Udenyca autoinjector, and the Udenyca Onbody and will assume identified liabilities.
Coherus plans to use a portion of the transaction proceeds to fully repay the entirety of the company’s $230.0 million in existing convertible notes due April 2026, and $49.1 million to buy-out certain royalty obligations related to Udenyca. With the pending divestiture of its biosimilar, the company says it plans to focus exclusively on innovative immuno-oncology programs, which includes Loqtorzi (toripalimab-tpzi), a drug for treating nasopharyngeal cancer.
The pending sale of Udenyca marks the third biosimilar program sold by Coherus this year (2024) and the strategic shift of the company from a focus on biosimilars to innovator medicines, specifically in immuno-oncology. In January (January 2024) , it sold Cimerli (ranibizumab-eqrn), a biosimilar to Roche’s eye-care drug, Lucentis, to Sandoz, for $170 million, and in June (June 2024), it sold Yusimry (adalimumab-aqvh), a biosimilar to AbbVie’s Humira (adalimumab), an anti-inflammatory drug, for $40 million to Hong Kong King-Friend Industrial Co.
The proposed transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2025, subject to certain customary closing conditions.
Source: Coherus BioSciences
