Xbrane Will Move Into Larger Biotech Lab, Headquarters

In need of room to grow, Solna, Sweden—based company Xbrane Biopharma announced that it will establish a new development lab for biosimilars at Campus Solna of the Korlinska Institute, a hub for medical academic research in Sweden.

The company has expanded significantly in recent years. Recently, Xbrane began a phase 3 clinical trial for its ranibizumab biosimilar candidate (Xlucane) referencing Lucentis, which started in January 2019. In May, Xbrane entered an agreement with eye health business Bausch + Lomb to commercialize Xlucane in the United States and Canada. The company continues to conduct trials despite the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Xbrane has 3 additional biosimilar candidates in preclinical stages that are targeted for originator biologic drug markets valued at just under $10.9 billion, collectively, the company said.

Plans for the Future

The lease for the new facility was signed with Akademiska Hus, which develops and manages education and research properties in Sweden. A March 2021 move into the new biotech laboratory is planned. It will feature expanded capacity compared with Xbrane’s current facility. Xbrane’s headquarters also will be relocated to Campus Solna.

Starting in the second quarter of 2021, Xbrane plans to expand its product portfolio and develop more biosimilar candidates to meet patent expirations on originator products.

The expanded capacity will help improve the development and production of mammalian cell- and E. coli-based biosimilars. The campus environment will also provide the advanced analysis capacity needed for biosimilar development, Xbrane said.

“We have the technology and know-how and want to use it to develop more biosimilars on blockbuster biologics with patent expiration during this decade. The premises at Campus Solna suit us well for this purpose,” Xbrane CEO Martin Åmark said in a statement.

Xlucane is a partnership between Xbrane and Germany-based STADA Arzneimittel AG.