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Merck Partners With Korea’s Samsung Bioepis On Multiple Biosimilar Targets

 
• By Jessica Merrill

Samsung Bioepis will be responsible for development, manufacturing and registration, while Merck will be responsible for commercializing any resulting drugs. Merck says the partnership will complement the firm’s internal biologics portfolio.

Merck & Co. Inc. has signed Samsung Bioepis Co. Ltd. as its partner to develop multiple biosimilar candidates in a deal announced Feb. 20. Whether the announcement reinforces Merck’s commitment to the space or signals the company’s desire to reduce investment in the field by handing off development to a third party is uncertain, but certainly the deal represents a change in strategy from how Merck entered the biosimilar race in 2008.

Merck declined to provide more insight on its biosimilar initiative, but said the deal with Samsung Bioepsis is just one piece of a broader strategy. “We do have some internal...

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