Fierce Pharma
by Joseph Keenan
Russia’s Biocad inks deal to produce biosimilars in North Africa.
Russian biotech Biocad said it reached a deal with Sothema Labs of Morocco to produce biosimilars rituximab and bevacizumab, used to treat cancer.
The St. Petersburg-based company said the drugs, which were approved by the Russian Ministry of Health earlier this year, will be marketed in Morocco, Senegal, Gabon and the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The oncological biosimilars are 30% less expensive than the original drugs, the company said.
“The efforts of our company combined with the eager enthusiasm of our Moroccan colleagues in transferring the production of biosimilars to North Africa has brought remarkable results,” Dmitry Morozov, Biocad’s chief executive, said in a statement.
Morozov added that once manufacturing at the site is at full production the partners expect to control “more than 50% of the relevant cancer drugs market.”
Additionally, the company announced it reached an agreement to localize the manufacture finished dosage forms for Biocad’s products in Algeria using local production capabilities.
Biocad received Russian approval In March to market its interferon beta-1a biosimilar, a knockoff of Biogen’s Rebif that is a key component in treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
