Lonza to Focus on Biologics CMO and Cell Line Biz Post Teva Biosimilars JV
News that Lonza and Teva had pulled the plug on their 2009 joint venture (JV) – through which they intended to develop versions of off patent biopharmaceuticals – was announced on Thursday during the Swiss contract manufacturing organisation’s (CMO) half-yearly results presentation.
The move came a little under six months after the firm’s launched a strategic review of the partnership citing regulatory uncertainty and unfavourable economic conditions.
Lonza spokesman Dominik Werner told BioPharmaReporter.com that: "The new regulatory requirements have increased the development costs significantly compared to our initial assumptions and it will also take more time until products reach the market.
"We don’t see any impact on employees through this decision," he added, explaining that manufacturing capacity previously earmarked for the JV "will be filled with alternative products."
CMO focus
Lonza’s plan post JV is to focus on its core activities according to COO Stephan Kutzer who said: “We will cease investing in areas that are not strategic to Lonza such as clinical developments and end product commercialization.
He added that: "We intend in the future to limit our role by focusing on our core expertise in the areas of contract manufacturing and cell line development.”
For Israeli drugmaker Teva the decision was more about the JV’s impact on product pipeline.
R&D president Michael Hayden said it allows the firm to “maintain a highly selective approach in our efforts to create a balanced portfolio of biosimilars, biobetters and innovative biologics that align with our overall portfolio and areas of disease focus.”
