Fuji Pharma Acquires 4.2% Stake in Biosimilar Developer Alvotech

This week, Japan-based Fuji Pharma announced that it has acquired a 4.2% stake in Alvotech, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the manufacturing of biosimilars, for roughly $50 million.

The acquisition comes less than 2 months after the companies announced that they had entered into a partnership agreement for the commercialization of Alvotech’s entire pipeline of biosimilars in Japan. Under the agreement, Fuji Pharma was offered the opportunity to invest in Alvotech’s capital structure as a way to “establish a long-term relationship.” Through the agreement, Alvotech will be responsible for the development and supply of biosimilars, while Fuji Pharma will be responsible for filing the products with Japan’s regulatory agency, as well as the commercialization of the approved biosimilars.

“We strongly believe that in combining Alvotech’s significant manufacturing capacity and high value biosimilars portfolio with Fuji Pharma’s deep market experience, we will together be staking a place as leaders in Japan’s rapidly growing biosimilar market,” said Rasmus Rojkjaer, CEO of Alvotech.

In order to keep up with anticipatory supply and demand needs, Alvotech recently built a new state-of-the-art biopharmaceutical facility in Reykjavik, Iceland. Additionally, the company owns manufacturing plants in Germany and Switzerland as well, totaling over 13,278 m².

Alvotech’s biosimilar pipeline consists of 6 monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases, and inflammatory diseases, among others. Alvotech anticipates the first products to be brought to market by 2020.

“Fuji Pharma is extremely pleased to become [a] partner in the growth with Alvotech. At Fuji, we strongly believe in Alvotech’s one-of-a-kind biologics development and scalable manufacturing capabilities,” said Hirofumi Imai, chairman of Fuji Pharma, in a statement.

Other key shareholders in Alvotech include controlling shareholder Aztiq Pharma AB, led by Robert Wessman, founder of Alvotech, and generic pharmaceutical company Alvogen.