Ipilimumab

With a massive array of prescription drugs losing patent protection in the coming years, including many biologics, Sandoz has cut a deal to grow its biosimilars empire and help it take advantage of the opportunity. The Swiss company has collaborated with China's Shanghai Henlius to gain commercialization rights to three biosimilars that are in early development. The deal, which paves the way for the companies to partner on up to 10 biosimilars, is for Sandoz to pay up to $100.5 million up front for the initial assets and a total of $322 million if milestones are reached. The deal covers Henlius’ biosimilar versions of Amgen’s cholesterol-lowering Repatha (evolocumab), GSK’s lupus drug Benlysta (belimumab) and Eli Lilly and Merck KGaA’s Erbitux (cetuximab). The trio of blockbusters generated combined sales of $6.8 billion last year, led by Repatha, which pulled in $3 billion, representing a 36% year-over-year increase. Henlius will continue to develop and manufacture the biosimilars and retain its commercial rights in China, while Sandoz will market them everywhere else around the world. The deal expands Sandoz’s industry-leading pipeline to 39 biosimilars, with the potential to grow to 46, if the companies agree to add more assets to the partnership. The deal is “another milestone” in Sandoz’s effort to “capitalize on a significant share of the unprecedented global biosimilar loss-of-exclusivity market over the next decade,” the company said in its release. In a note to investors, analysts from Jefferies said that they “expect further in-licensing activity at Sandoz to fill an upcoming industry pipeline void.” Jefferies called the Repatha biosimilar “an attractive late-decade biosimilar opportunity.” The analysts also pointed out that Erbitux lost its patent protection a decade ago but that there are still no biosimilars on the market because of the complexity of the compound has “deterred competitors.” The collaboration isn’t the first between Sandoz and Henlius. In April of 2025, Sandoz paid $31 million up front and agreed to $270 million in milestones for Henlius’ version of Bristol Myers Squibb’s cancer treatment Yervoy, which checked in with sales of $2.9 billion in 2025. , with Henlius developing and manufacturing the checkpoint inhibitor and Sandoz taking its commercial rights for most of the world outside of China. Sandoz reported revenue of $11.1 billion in 2025, with its biosimilars portfolio accounting for 30% of the company’s sales, which was a target the company reached three years earlier than expected. The sales of Sandoz’s biosimilars were up 13% year over year to $3.3 billion. Earlier this year, the company announced its intention to launch a new biosimilars unit that will operate separately from the company’s small molecule generics division.