Sandoz on Wednesday announced a multi-year partnership with Just – Evotec Biologics, the Seattle-based subsidiary of Evotec SE. According to the company’s statement, the agreement covers the development and manufacture of multiple biosimilar medicines with an option for expansion and is the most recent step towards strengthening the Sandoz foundation as a stand-alone off-patent medicines company.
Access to Just – Evotec Biologics’ highly efficient drug substance development platform and manufacturing technology complements Sandoz capabilities, supporting expansion of the current pipeline from 15+ to 24 assets and the continued development of its early-stage biosimilar pipeline, it added.
“This strategic partnership is founded on a strong shared sense of purpose and commitment to use disruptive technology with lower operational costs to deliver high-quality biosimilars at scale to patients around the world. It provides us with additional capabilities to support the strategic expansion of our pipeline with new assets and to begin immediately transitioning our early biosimilar pipeline – ensuring continuity in development and manufacturing while Sandoz finalizes its planned separation from Novartis. Development of the biosimilars will ramp-up over the coming 12-18 months,” Sandoz CEO Richard Saynor said in a statement.
Just – Evotec Biologics has developed an optimized proprietary ecosystem for cost-efficient, state-of-the-art drug development and manufacturing. This includes an advanced continuous manufacturing process, a relatively new, but already well-established technology that delivers enhanced quality and productivity in biologics production. Under the terms of the agreement, Sandoz has the optionality to use this technology, it added.
Sandoz is a pioneer and market leader in biosimilars and this partnership with Just – Evotec Biologics comes shortly after the company announced increased investments in its Holzkirchen site in Germany to create a core Biopharma Technical Development hub supporting future biosimilar growth.
In addition, Sandoz recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding to build a new biologics production plant in Slovenia – an expected investment of at least $400 million to support increasing global demand for biosimilar medicines. Work is set to begin this year, with full operations provisionally planned for late 2026, it added.
