Nordic Life Science 1
TOP STORIES BUSINESS ACQU I SITIONS // AGREEMENTS
// COLLABORATIONS Róbert Wessman, CEO and founder, Alvotech Martin Åmark, CEO, Xbrane Biopharma B U S I NES S D E AL AddLife acquires Edge Medical Edge Medical is a distributor of specialty products in the field of orthopedic surgery in the UK and Irish markets. A CQU I S I T I ON Alvotech buys biosimilar candidate and parts of Xbrane’s organization Xbrane Biopharma has agreed to sell XB003 (biosimilar candidate to Cimzia) and parts of its organization, including approximately 40 employees and laboratory equipment, to Alvotech for a total consideration of approximately SEK 275 million. THE ACQUISITION will further expand Alvotech’s development capacity, allowing its commercial network of 19 commercial partners worldwide to continue increasing patient access to quality biologics, states Alvotech. “Bringing the Xbrane team into the Alvotech family advances our strategy in several ways. From day one, they bring deep and proven capabilities in biologics and biosimilars R&D that directly support the advance of our pipeline and give us an ongoing presence in the Karolinska ecosystem,” says Róbert Wessman, founder, chairman and CEO of Alvotech, to NLS. “Commercially, too, the Nordic markets and healthcare systems are an important part of our business and one we think is going to grow significantly. And from an investment perspective, Sweden represents a deep source of smart life sciences capital. Although we are based in Iceland, it is almost another home market for us, making it a very interesting place for a possible listing to support our global growth,” adds Wessman. 10 | NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG XB003 is the most advanced biosimilar candidate to Cimzia under development, and it represents approximately 25% of the competitive adjusted addressable market of Xbrane’s portfolio. The reduced size of Xbrane’s organization will decrease annual fixed costs by approximately SEK 120 million, the company states. “Through this transaction, Xbrane is significantly strengthening its financial position. We will retain over 75% of the competitively adjusted addressable market of the portfolio including Ximluci (Lucentis biosimilar candidate) currently undergoing approval and sold in Europe, as well as Xdivane (Opdivo biosimilar candidate), which recently partnered with Intas," says Martin Åmark, CEO, Xbrane Biopharma "After the transaction, Xbrane’s leaner and more flexible organization will be better equipped to focus on realizing the full value of Ximluci and Xdivane with the aim to generate meaningful royalties/profit sharing from these programs in the years to come," he adds. NLS THE COMPANY WILL become part of AddLife’s Medtech business area. This acquisition illustrates AddLife’s increasing acquisition activity and is another step in its expansion in the UK and Irish markets. Edge Medical is based in Manchester, serving surgeons across England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. “Over the past 12 years, Edge Medical has built an impressive range of partnerships and together with our strong market presence and industry knowledge, AddLife can really add value and support Mark and his team to continue to grow the business,” says Nathan Pettitt, Vice President Hospital, AddLife. NLS SEK 420 MILLION … … has been donated by Mrs Berta Kamprad Foundation to cancer research at Lund University.