Alvotech provides Stelara biosimilar supply to Fuji Pharma
The deal means that Alvotech will receive an upfront fee of $4.6m (€4m) and could receive an additional $20m in milestone payments.
In return, Fuji Pharma will have exclusive rights to commercialise Alvotech’s ustekinumab biosimilar, which could enter the Japanese market as a competitor to Johnson & Johnson’s Stelara.
The human interleukin-12 and -23 antagonist is approved for various autoimmune disorders, bringing in sales of $1.6bn in ex. US sales in 2018.
Alvotech will manufacture the biosimilar from its $250m manufacturing facility in Reykjavik, Iceland, which officially opened in 2016.
A spokesperson for Alvotech declined to provide additional details on the development progress of this biosimilar candidate and the other five that the company holds in its pipeline.
The company announced last month that its Humira (adalimumab) biosimilar had begun enrolling participants for a Phase III trial.
Prior to a financing round that brought in $300m, Alvotech revealed that Fuji Pharma had acquired a 4.2% stake in the company in return for a $50m investment.
