It is crystal-clear, now -- Whitehouse Station is moving aggressively into the global market for medicines that have fallen off-patent.
A smart move, to be sure, but an invention whose mother is necessity -- as margins shrink globally for the branded, patented medicines that were the lifeblood of most multinational pharma players over the past decades.
And as we all know, that time has ended. Thus reports the Asian version of The Wall Street Journal, overnight -- do go read it all:
. . . .Hanwha Chemical Corp. said Monday it has agreed to sell to Merck & Co. the marketing rights and technology for its drugs to be produced by Merck for around $720 million, in a deal that could give Hanwha access to a broader international market. . . .
By partnering with Hanwha, U.S.-based Merck could boost its profit by selling so-called biosimilar drugs, which attempt to copy the production process for drugs that are no longer protected by a patent.
Hanwha has the technology to produce the drugs, while Merck has the global network through which Hanwha could sell biosimilar drugs, a Hanwha official said.
Under the deal, Hanwha will receive an upfront payment from Merck and will be eligible for additional payments associated with milestones for technology transfer and regulatory progress as well as royalties on sales. . . .
We will keep you posted. UPDATE: Pfizer's aging arthritis drug Enbrel® will be the first important target -- for this biosimilar collaboration.
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