DKSH Business Unit Healthcare, Asia’s leading partner for healthcare companies, and biopharmaceutical company Alvotech, have announced their extended partnership to bring additional biosimilars, or biologic medical products to Asia. The collaboration will include the following markets: Taiwan, Korea, Hong Kong, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.
A biosimilar is a biologic medical product, highly similar to an already approved biological medicine. Unlike generic drugs, biosimilars are not an exact copy of an existing drug’s chemical composition, but “highly similar”, meaning close enough in duplication to accomplish the same therapeutic and clinical result.
To accelerate DKSH’s entry into the fast-growing market of biosimilars and help widen access to critical medicines in Asia, the company has extended its partnership with Alvotech, obtaining the exclusive rights for six additional Alvotech biosimilars. This will enable DKSH to provide Asian patients access to state-of-the-art and cost-effective biosimilars.
DKSH signed its first biosimilar deal with Alvotech last year for AbbVie’s HUMIRA®, a leading drug indicated for the treatment of several autoimmune diseases. AbbVie’s HUMIRA® recorded global sales of about USD 20 billion, making it the largest-selling blockbuster medicine in the world.
Mark Levick, Chief Executive Officer of Alvotech, commented: “We have been delighted to work with DKSH since our initial partnership began earlier this year. The partnership is designed to accelerate improved patient access for high quality biosimilar medicines in the Asian biosimilar industry. This is also another milestone for Alvotech, where we continue to extend our network of leading commercial partners around the globe.”
Bijay Singh, Global Head of Business Unit Healthcare, DKSH, said: “The extended partnership with Alvotech demonstrates our commitment to bringing high-quality medical products to Asian patients and enriching their lives. At DKSH, we believe biosimilars offer a tremendous opportunity to enhance the standard of care in several disease areas across Asian markets. This partnership brings together two strong players – Alvotech, with their leading position in the development and manufacturing of biosimilars worldwide, and DKSH as the leading commercial outsourcing partner for healthcare companies in Asia.”
About Alvotech
Alvotech is a multinational biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and manufacture of high quality biosimilars for global markets. The company specializes in biotechnology, seeking to be a global leader in the biosimilar space by delivering high quality, cost-competitive products and services to its partners and to patients worldwide. Its fully integrated approach, with high-quality in-house competencies throughout the value chain, enables the accelerated development of biosimilar products. Alvotech’s initial pipeline contains several monoclonal-antibody and fusion-protein biosimilar candidates aimed at treating autoimmunity, oncology and inflammatory conditions to improve quality of life for patients around the world.
About DKSH
DKSH is the leading Market Expansion Services provider with a focus on Asia. The Group helps companies to grow across the Business Units Healthcare, Consumer Goods, Performance Materials and Technology. The service portfolio covers sourcing, market insights, marketing and sales, eCommerce, distribution and logistics as well as after-sales services. Publicly listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange, the Group operates in 36 markets with 33,350 specialists, generating net sales of CHF 11.6 billion in 2019. With its Swiss heritage, DKSH has been deeply rooted in Asia Pacific since 1865. The DKSH Business Unit Healthcare distributes pharmaceuticals, consumer health and overt-the-counter (OTC) products as well as medical devices. With around 8,220 specialists, the Business Unit generated net sales of CHF 6.0 billion in 2019.
